A patient is admitted to the Labor & Delivery unit at 39 weeks.

She is 5/60/-2. After several hours she is at 5/70/-2. What can be given to help augment her labor?

Choice A rationale
X-ray is not used to identify fetal lie, presentation, and engagement due to the risk of fetal radiation exposure. Other techniques provide safer, non-invasive assessments.
Choice B rationale
Robert’s Procedure is not a recognized technique for assessing fetal lie, presentation, and engagement. It lacks scientific evidence and validation in clinical practice.
Choice C rationale
McRobert’s Maneuvers are primarily used to resolve shoulder dystocia during delivery, not to assess fetal lie, presentation, and engagement. They are emergency measures rather than diagnostic tools.
Choice D rationale
Leopold’s Maneuvers are systematic palpations of the maternal abdomen to identify fetal lie, presentation, and engagement. This non-invasive method helps determine the fetus’s position and orientation in the uterus.

Choice A rationale
Meconium is produced by the fetal intestines. The intestines start to form meconium around the 16th week of gestation. Meconium is composed of shed cells, mucus, amniotic fluid, bile, and lanugo.
Choice B rationale
The placenta does not produce meconium. Its primary functions include nutrient transfer, gas exchange, and waste elimination, but it does not have the structures necessary for the production of meconium.
Choice C rationale
Amniotic fluid does not produce meconium. Amniotic fluid surrounds and protects the fetus but does not contain the components needed to create meconium. Instead, the fetus swallows and then excretes it into the intestines.
Choice D rationale
Fetal kidneys are responsible for filtering waste and producing urine, but they do not produce meconium. The production of meconium is a function of the intestines, not the kidneys.