Second Trimester Abortion |
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| Authors: | NANCY WHITLEY RN CNM |
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| Affiliation: | Nancy Whitley received I certificates in nurse-widwifery and family planning from I Kings County Hospital-Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and was certified as a Lamaze instructor by the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics. She served her internship in nurse-midwifery at the Maternal Health Service Community Hospital, Springfield, Ohio. Her diploma in nursing is from the Bellevue School of Nursing in New York City. The author taught prenatal classes in the United States and abroad as an Army nurse from 1964 to 1968. Now a Red Cross nurse, she instructs maternal-child classes and also teaches the Lamaze methods in several Colorado Springs hospitals. Ms. Whitley has published several articles on childbirth education and breastfeeding. She is a member of NAACOG, ANA, Pennsylvania State Nurses'Association, ACNM, ASPO, and ICEA. |
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| Abstract: | This article details the adaptation of Lamaze techniques for use by patients undergoing second trimester abortions and covers the program of counseling the abortion patients on family planning in the short time available before and after saline instillation and during post-abortal examinations. Specific Lamaze techniques taught were slow, rhythmic chest breathing, relaxation, effleurage, and back massage. To evaluate pain relief, 43 of the 416 patients taught by the author were interviewed at random following their labors. Of the 43 patients interviewed, 26 used the techniques, and 21 of these stated that they were to some degree helpful. Abortion patients were found to be difficult to teach, probably because of their high level of anxiety. |
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