NCLEX Maternity 2023 – 2024 Questions and Answers

When teaching a class of nursing students, the nurse asks why the embryonic period (weeks 4-8) of pregnancy is so critical.

B) Weeks 4-8, known as the embryonic period, are the time organogenesis occurs and pose the greatest potential for major congenital malformations. All major internal and external organs and systems are formed. (

The nurse practitioner determines that a client is approximately 9 weeks’ gestation. During the visit, the practitioner informs the client about symptoms of physical changes that she will experience during her first trimester, such as:

A) Nausea and vomiting are experienced by almost half of all pregnant women during the first 3 months of pregnancy as a result of elevated human chorionic gonadotropin levels and changed carbohydrate metabolism.

Pregnant women with diabetes often have problems related to the effectiveness of insulin in controlling their glucose levels during their second half of pregnancy. The nurse teaches the client that this is due to:

D. Increased human placental lactogen levels

(D) Human placental lactogen levels increase later in pregnancy. This hormonal antagonist reduces insulin’s effectiveness, stimulates lipolysis, and increases the circulation of free fatty acids.

A pregnant client comes to the office for her first prenatal examination at 10 weeks. She has been pregnant twice before; the first delivery produced a viable baby girl at 39 weeks 3 years ago; the second pregnancy produced a viable baby boy at 36 weeks 2 years ago. Both children are living and well. Using the gravida and para system to record the client’s obstetrical history, the nurse should record:
A. Gravida 3 para 1
B. Gravida 3 para 2
C. Gravida 2 para 1
D. Gravida 2 para 2

B. Gravida 3 para 2

The client is currently pregnant for the third time (G = 3), regardless of the length of the pregnancy, and has had two prior pregnancies with birth after the 20th week (P = 2), whether infant was alive or dead.

A nurse is taking a maternal history for a client at her first prenatal visit. Her pregnancy test was positive, she has two living children, she had one spontaneous abortion, and one infant died at the age of 3 months. Which of the following best describes the client at the present?

B. Gravida 5, para 3, ab 1

(B) Your client has been pregnant five times, delivered three children, and had one abortion.

A pregnant client continues to visit the clinic regularly during her pregnancy. During one of her visits while lying supine on the examining table, she tells the RN that she is becoming light-headed. The RN notices that the client has pallor in her face and is perspiring profusely. The first intervention the RN should initiate is to:

A. Place the examining table in the Trendelenburg position B. Assess the client to see if she is having vaginal bleeding
C. Obtain the client’s vital signs immediately D. Help the client to a sitting position

D. Help the client to a sitting position

(D) This would move the gravid uterus off of the client‘s vena cava, which would alleviate the maternal hypotension that is the cause of her symptoms.

NCLEX Maternity 2023 – 2024

A female client at 10 weeks’ gestation complains to her physician of slight vaginal bleeding and mild cramps. On examination, her physician determines that her cervix is closed. The client is exhibiting signs of:

A. An inevitable abortion
B. A threatened abortion
C. An incomplete abortion
D. A missed abortion

B. A threatened abortion

A) An inevitable abortion includes the signs of cervical dilation and effacement as well as pain and bleeding.
(B) A threatened abortion is a condition in which intrauterine bleeding occurs early in pregnancy, the cervix remains undilated, and the uterine contents are not necessarily expelled.
C) An incomplete abortion occurs when some portions of the products of conception are expelled from the uterus.
(D) A missed abortion occurs when the embryo dies in utero and is retained in the uterus.

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