Author(s)

Jo Watson^1,2, Monica Nicholson¹, Kelly Dobbin³, Karen Fleming^1,4, Julia M. K. Alleyne^5,6

¹Women and Babies Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada.
²Lawrence S. Bloomberg, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
³College of Midwives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
⁴Department of Family and Community Medicine, Toronto, Canada.
⁵University Health Network, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Canada.
⁶Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario Healthy Work Environments Best Practice Guideline recommends that employers promote safe, healthy workplaces. Healthy workplaces include addressing the unique needs of nurses who work while pregnant. The purpose of this descriptive study, summarizing information from 120 pregnancies reported by 95 nurses, was to determine if the workload of obstetrical nurses was associated with negative pregnancy outcomes, including preterm delivery and birth weight. Full-time obstetrical nursing work is a predictor of reduced birth weight, but not of preterm birth when compared to outcomes of obstetrical nurses working part time. One third of nurses reported pregnancy complications and most nurses experienced work-related and personal stress. Further research evaluating work modifications during pregnancy is indicated to improve birth outcomes.

Obstetrical Nurse, Pregnancy Outcomes, Preterm Birth, Birth Weight

Watson, J., Nicholson, M., Dobbin, K., Fleming, K. and Alleyne, J.M.K. (2016) Exploring the Relationship between Obstetrical Nurses’ Work and Pregnancy Outcomes. Open Journal of Nursing, 6, 812-819. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2016.69080.