OB Exam 2 Study Guide.

.) PRIORITY nursing care/interventions/assessment immediately after birth of normal newborn  Check Vitals  Most important is to establish respiratory function with the cutting of the umbilical cord. (clear airway using the bulb syringe first mouth then nose)  Dry baby up  Perform a physical assessment called Apgar scoring to rule out any abnormalities. It is a measure of the physical condition of a newborn infant. It is obtained by adding points (2, 1, or 0) for heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, response to stimulation, and skin coloration; a score of ten represents the best possible condition. 2.) Umbilical cord anatomy  The umbilical cord is made up of two arteries which carry deoxygenated blood and one vein which carries oxygenated blood to fetus. It is covered by Wharton’s jelly (collagenous substance which protects the vessels from compression) the average length of the cord is 55cm.