The nurse is caring for a new mother who states she is worried about the soft spots on her newborn son's head. What would be the nurse's proper response?
A) "These soft spots are called Mongolian spots caused by birth trauma that will resolve in time."
B) "These soft spots are called molding and are caused by delivering your baby vaginally and will resolve with time."
C) "These soft spots are called fontanels and occur so the head can mold to fit through the mother's birth canal. They will close within 3 months."
D) "These soft spots are congenital defects known as fontanels that will require surgery when the infant is a year old."
C
Feedback:
The fontanels are the "soft spots" in the newborn's skull, formed at the junction of the individual skull bones. These bones do not fuse completely before birth, so that the head can mold to fit through the mother's birth canal. They are not a congenital defect. Mongolian spots are dark blue areas of discoloration that often appear on the buttocks, lower back, or upper legs of nonwhite babies. These spots usually disappear by early childhood. If the newborn was delivered vaginally, the head may show temporary molding (elongation) because of the overlap of skull bones during the birth process.
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