The laboring patient requests pain medication. Her contractions are lasting 20–30 seconds and are occurring every 8–20 minutes. The nurse would explain that analgesics given at this time would likely cause:

Question

1. Fetal respiratory depression.
2. Decreased analgesic effectiveness at the end of labor.
3. Maternal hypotension.
4. Prolonged labor.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 4
Rationale 1: Pain medication given before established labor does not cause fetal respiratory depression unless the mother delivers within an hour of receiving the medication. This is not likely if labor is not established.
Rationale 2: Medication given early in the labor process does not become less effective at the end of labor.
Rationale 3: Analgesics might lower the blood pressure, but this effect does not cause the contraction pattern to be altered.
Rationale 4: Pain medication given before labor becomes established is likely to prolong the labor process.