Maternity Nursing Q 199
A nurse is monitoring the amount of lochia drainage in a client who is 2 hours postpartum and notes that the client has a saturated perineal pad in 1 hour. The nurse reports the amount of lochial flow as:
A. Scanty
B. Light
C. Heavy
D. Excessive
Correct Answer: C. Heavy
Heavy lochial discharge is a saturated menstrual pad in 1 hour. The woman can expect to see fresh red or browny-red blood loss. The flow of blood may be quite heavy, soaking a maternity pad every few hours. Don’t be alarmed if there are one or two quite large blood clots, they may even be as large as a plum, or the woman may pass several smaller ones about the same size as grapes. They are all just remnants of the placenta coming out of the body as it’s no longer needed.
Option A: Scanty = less than 2.5 cm on a menstrual pad in 1 hour.16. After three weeks: Any blood loss at this stage should be a pale, yellowish-white in colour – or the woman may find there is no blood at all.
Option B: Light = less than 10 cm on a menstrual pad in 1 hour. After one week, the blood should now have turned a pinky brown colour and the stain on maternity pads should be getting smaller and lighter. The pad shouldn’t be soaking at any time and the woman should let her midwife know if she thinks she might be passing too much blood after one week. She may pass little blood clots, about the size or a raisin or smaller. This is all totally normal.
Option D: Excessive = menstrual pad saturated in 15 minutes. If the woman passes large blood clots after the first 24 hours, or she continues to pass blood clots after one week, it is important to contact a midwife or doctor straight away.