Labor and delivery nurses are licensed medical professionals who support obstetricians, midwives, expectant parents, and newborns. They are a vital part of a childbirth care team and often spend more hands-on time with a laboring patient than any other medical professional. Here are some of the responsibilities of labor and delivery nurses:
- Patient intake
- Charting the patient’s obstetric history
- Monitoring a birthing patient’s vital signs
- Monitoring fetal heartbeat and contractions
- Administering medications
- Placing catheters and IV lines if needed
- Providing psychological and emotional support
- Educating patients and their spouses/partners and other family members
- Monitoring the condition of patients during every step of labor and birth, providing intervention when needed
- Caring for the newborn during the postpartum period (i.e., immediately after birth)
- Updating and communicating with the patient’s OBGYN/midwife, charge nurse, anesthesiologist (or certified registered nurse anesthetist), lactation nurse, delivery nurse (if there is one), neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP), and the patient
Labor and delivery nurses are experts in pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and newborn care. They often teach classes for hospitals or community organizations on childbirth or parenting skills. They work in acute care centers on maternity units, in delivery rooms, and in birthing centers.
