A19-year-old primigravida at 38 weeks' gestation, in active labor for the past 8 hours, is admitted to the hospital accompanied by her mother. on admission, the client's cervix is 5 cm dilated, her blood pressure is 120/84 mm hg, and she is breathing rapidly, feeling dizzy and light-headed. the nurse determines that the client is most likely experiencing effects of which factor?

The client is experiencing the effects of hyperventilation. A patient is said to be hyperventilating during labor if she is actually eliminating more carbon dioxide than what is expected. This is what makes her become dizzy or light headed. It is important to know that being dizzy or light-headed is not correlated with conditions such as elevated blood pressure, rapid cervical dilation, or excitement because of the labor process.