Inservice Training in the Care of Labor Patients

M jOST hospitals are justifiably proud of their maternity departments. Even during the past twenty years, the reduction in maternal and infant mortality rates has been tremendous. Improved analgesics and anesthetics offer considerable relief of pain during labor. Yet women still face labor with fear, and maternity floors are often disturbed by their moans and cries. Doctors and nurses who care for these patients are coming to realize that medical skill, perfection of techniques, and relief of pain do not always assure a satisfactory labor experience for the patient. Antepartum education is helping many women, and is receiving increased emphasis throughout the country. Good nursing care during labor seems to offer as much help. It is being studied in some of our large teaching hospitals, yet in some hospitals it is not always available. Most hospitals, these days, are suffering from a shortage of trained personnel. Undoubtedly, in some instances, the labor rooms are slighted because of the needs of more acutely ill patients. It is rather unfortunate, perhaps, that we are taught to consider labor as a normal physiological process, for labor patients need very intensive nursing care. Small and medium-sized hospitals, especially, lacking interns or resident staff physicians, need nurses who can take full responsibility for observing the progress of labor, administering analgesics, and calling the doctor when he is needed.