Maternity Nursing Q 50

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Immediately after delivery, the nurse-midwife assesses the neonate’s head for signs of molding. Which factors determine the type of molding?

  

     A. Fetal body flexion or extension

     B. Maternal age, body frame, and weight

     C. Maternal and paternal ethnic backgrounds

     D. Maternal parity and gravidity

    

    

Correct Answer: A. Fetal body flexion or extension

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Fetal attitude—the overall degree of body flexion or extension—determines the type of molding in the head of a neonate.

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Option B: When a baby is born in a cephalic position, pressure on the head in the birth canal may mold the head into an oblong shape. The mother’s age, body frame, and weight do not affect the pressure.

Option C: There is research that indicates that infant head molding, the application of pressure or bindings to cranial bones to alter their shapes, is prevalent among various Caribbean, Latino, European, African American, Asian, and Native American groups.

Option D: Infants born by primiparous women showed significantly higher degrees of molding of the head than those born by multiparous women.

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