My doctor keeps telling me to stay home as long as I can while in labor. I am totally down for that! I would love to roll into the hospital ready to push her out!
So I'm all the sudden wondering if having a doppler to listen to her heart tones would be a good thing to have around while at home for that long. Or would it maybe cause undue stress? I know that the best way they can tell that you have a rupture is the baby's heartrate, so it would make sense to occasionally monitor that.
Thoughts? Can't decide if it would help or hinder me!
Re: doppler for laboring at home?
I agree. I think I'd go crazy. If it worries you, I'd head on into the hospital.
I totally hear you - I'm having similar worries in a way. I personally won't be doing the dopler, as I personally don't really know what decels/rate increases are 'ok' as opposed to questionable, and I see myself getting paranoid about the fact baby's hr is going down during a contraction (or whatever might be happening) and becoming paranoid, which won't help labor, either.
I'll admit - I'll end up going in earlier than I would have otherwise because of the VBAC & wanting some monitoring - however, I'm also GBS+, so that is true for a few reasons. Part of me wishes my doula was a slight medical professional and could monitor the HR at home.