Nursing Care according to Virginia Henderson for Pregnant Women during Childbirth. Turbo Hospital, Antioquia 2023

Abstract

Nursing care in the care of a pregnant woman requires a focus on the well-being needs of the mother-infant dyad, ensuring the mother's satisfactory perception during labor, delivery, and postpartum, allowing for a physiological progression of labor and a healthy newborn who adapts well to extrauterine life. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines childbirth as a physiological process that begins spontaneously, under minimal risk, remaining so until delivery. The child is born spontaneously in a cephalic position between weeks 37 to 42, and after delivery, both the mother and child are in good condition.

In line with these considerations, Virginia Henderson, as cited in Phaneuf (1993), establishes that a healthy or sick person is seen as a whole and has fourteen fundamental needs that must be met. The purpose of care is to maintain or restore the independence of the person in meeting these needs. Nursing's role is to help the person regain or maintain their independence by addressing needs that they cannot fulfill alone, especially during childbirth, to preserve their physical and psychosocial condition.

Henderson emphasizes that care must adhere to physiological and psychological principles while compensating for the person's autonomy deficits, particularly in varied and intense circumstances during the uncertainty of childbirth. In this context, the woman must face processes such as uterine activity, the delivery stage, and breastfeeding, which are challenging moments. Nursing care should address these complexities as they are challenging for the mother.