What's the deal with constant fetal monitoring?

laurahastings

I've been trying to research all of the contravertial topics (such as planned induction) and noticed some feel strongly about not having constant fetal monitoring during labor.  Thought I'd ask you ladies what the down side/up side is?  TIA!

jenbabe3

I just read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, and she covered this topic.  What the book said was that external fetal monitoring can indicate a "problem" when there isn't one.  It's not abnormal for the baby's heart rate to slow a bit during a contraction, but sometimes nurses or doctors will make this seem like an emergency and a reason that baby has to get out immediately.  According to her (she's a very well known midwife, in case you hadn't heard of her before), as long as the baby's heart rate returns to normal after the contraction, it's not an emergency or dangerous.

Also, she had statistics that indicate external fetal monitoring leads to a higher c-section rate (due to the reasons I mentioned above).  Listening to the baby's heart rate occasionally with a doppler is how most birthing centers do it, and is also how many midwives who attend home births do it. That way you can still check the baby's heart rate, but there's no false sense of urgency if the baby's heart rate slows a bit during a contraction.

Another down side is that you're pretty much limited to lying in bed on your back; you can't get up and walk or move around at all, which can be very frustrating and is a HUGE downside to me, personally.

CircleInTheSea

Constant fetal monitoring = attached to the monitor (either external or internal) and therefore not able to move around in labor.  This was a biggie for me because I wanted to go natural and for me, contractions are really hard to deal with when I'm stuck in one position.  When we had dd, I had an epi and so it didn't bother me to be hooked up, but with ds, we did a baseline read with a belt and used a doppler for intermittent monitoring the rest of the time so that I could move around.  

BabyQuizzle

CircleInTheSea:

Constant fetal monitoring = attached to the monitor (either external or internal) and therefore not able to move around in labor.  This was a biggie for me because I wanted to go natural and for me, contractions are really hard to deal with when I'm stuck in one position.  When we had dd, I had an epi and so it didn't bother me to be hooked up, but with ds, we did a baseline read with a belt and used a doppler for intermittent monitoring the rest of the time so that I could move around.  

I think being confined to a bed while on monitors is becoming a thing of the past as many hospitals have wireless monitors that are even waterproof.  So you can still move around, shower, etc while hooked up to the monitors.  I would ask your hospital if they are equipped with these just so you know what to expect.

txhottie

The American Congress of OB/GYN has decided that the baby must be monitored only 15 minutes out of every hour to have a correct and accurate reading of the baby's heartrate and movement.

As PP stated, sometimes the baby's HR and movement will change through out contrations and labor and nurses and doctor's can use this to push faster delivery or csections, but it isn't always a true emergancy.

I am choosing to do an unmedicated birth, so I want to move around, but also don't want the pressure of having to be constantly monitored, if the baby can correctly be monitored in 15 minutes. I also will never do internal monitoring, as they actually screw a probe into the baby's head!!

CircleInTheSea

BabyQuizzle:

CircleInTheSea:

Constant fetal monitoring = attached to the monitor (either external or internal) and therefore not able to move around in labor.  This was a biggie for me because I wanted to go natural and for me, contractions are really hard to deal with when I'm stuck in one position.  When we had dd, I had an epi and so it didn't bother me to be hooked up, but with ds, we did a baseline read with a belt and used a doppler for intermittent monitoring the rest of the time so that I could move around.  

I think being confined to a bed while on monitors is becoming a thing of the past as many hospitals have wireless monitors that are even waterproof.  So you can still move around, shower, etc while hooked up to the monitors.  I would ask your hospital if they are equipped with these just so you know what to expect.

Its nice to hear that some hospitals are moving in that direction.  We live in a rural area and our hospitals are...not quite with the times...iykwim.