Abstract
To obtain a quantitative description of mother-newborn presentations and to identify their nursing care requirements while in hospital. Recommendations on minimum staffing levels are broad based with implications that all new mothers and newborns are normal without complications. However, in a large tertiary centre, mother-newborn dyads do present with complications, suggesting variation in nursing care requirements. Two studies were conducted: (1) a cross-sectional retrospective, descriptive study; and (2) a convenience sampling survey professional nurses' expert opinions. A sample of 1224 mother and/or newborn presentations was retrospectively classified. Almost half of the patient presentations were classified as having complications. Nursing care ratios required for postpartum ranged from 1:1 to 9:1. An objective classification system was obtained from nursing experts in caring for mother and newborn with variable needs, in a hospitalized setting. This comprehensive classification system can be used to objectively align nursing resources to mother/newborn care needs.
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