Planning NB in hospital- fetal monitoring ?

amandaleigh1 · June 2012

I was all set to ask for intermittent fetal monitoring in my birth plan, but then on my hospital tour, I found out that that meant 15-20 minutes of monitoring an hour! I think that much interruption might really mess with my hypnobirthing mojo. So my question to NB vets is this: might the wireless, waterproof continuous monitor be a better choice, so I can not be constantly interrupted?

pugznploons · June 2012

my hospital doesn't have the wireless/waterproof kind, my doctor said they never function as well as the traditional ones.

however you can get up and walk around with the regular ones on, the cords are several feet long, you just can't get in the tub.

AmyRI · June 2012

That was my hospital's protocol, too. They did do the full 20 minutes of monitoring on admission, but the rest of the time the nurses were satisfied with less because DS was doing fine through the contractions. They can strap the monitor on you in a number of different positions. It does mean you can't pace far away, but it's not like you have to be on your back in bed for 1/3 of every hour. I was kneeling next to the bed anyway, so it was not a distraction to have the monitor on.

I didn't have the wireless option. I would probably try that if they'll let you so you don't get interrupted, but the traditional monitor was not that bad.

ChibiMommy · June 2012

My policy with this is don't ask just do. Stay on the monitor as long as you feel like and then get up and do what you want without asking for permission. At my hospital I can labor on the ball or in a rocking chair during the monitoring but if I felt like getting up and walking I just did. No one ever said anything to me about it.

perplexed59 · June 2012

My midwife just used a doppler after contractions... not every one but every once and awhile to get a sense of how the baby was doing. It was nice, I could do what I wanted and be where I wanted.

robyn2201 · June 2012

pugznploons:

my hospital doesn't have the wireless/waterproof kind, my doctor said they never function as well as the traditional ones.

however you can get up and walk around with the regular ones on, the cords are several feet long, you just can't get in the tub.

This! I had planned to do the intermittent monitoring but then when it came down to it I didn't find the monitors to be annoying at all. I stood the entire time and moved around a bit. The nurse would just come in and reposition if it moved off DD's heartbeat. Only happened 2 or 3 times during the course of several hours.

superned · June 2012

j.d.gal:
My hospital uses the wireless monitors and I had absolutely no problems with them.

Same. I did intermittent monitoring at first, but then during transition I ended up just leaving them on while I was in the shower. They didn't bother me at all (though the straps got really nasty...at that point I was beyond caring) and it meant that I was able to labor through transition pretty much uninterrupted, with the nurses only checking in periodically (I think mostly to see if DH needed anything!).

Temp174496125006552 · June 2012

I'm almost 37 weeks, am having a hospital birth and also doing HypnoBirthing. I had a HypnoBirth with Ben and didn't find the monitoring all that disruptive. I think if you practice enough, you'll be able to slip back into your relaxation pretty easily after they put the monitors on/take them off.

pixieprincss · June 2012

I did intermittent and it was very frustrating to get out of relaxation and on the monitor. I labored a ton in the shower and tub and every time I would have to get in or near the bed to get on the monitor. It expended a huge amount of energy. We are not doing a hospital birth this time, so I won't have to deal with that again, but if I was in a hospital and sporadic monitoring with a doppler was simply not an option, I would go with the wireless even though statistically constant monitoring does not show a benefit simply because then I wouldn't be tethered to a wired device that I would need to move myself to over and over again.

amandaleigh1 · June 2012

pixieprincss:
I did intermittent and it was very frustrating to get out of relaxation and on the monitor. I labored a ton in the shower and tub and every time I would have to get in or near the bed to get on the monitor. It expended a huge amount of energy. We are not doing a hospital birth this time, so I won't have to deal with that again, but if I was in a hospital and sporadic monitoring with a doppler was simply not an option, I would go with the wireless even though statistically constant monitoring does not show a benefit simply because then I wouldn't be tethered to a wired device that I would need to move myself to over and over again.

So I think your experience goes with my gut feeling on this. Thank you for sharing your experience and insight!

livinginashoe · June 2012

I wanted intermittent monitoring, too, but when I was admitted, my BP was off the charts so they insisted on constant monitoring. I got one of the waterproof ones, and it wasn't a big deal, except that anytime it slipped, it would lose the baby's heartbeat and the nurse would come back in and molest me until it was back in place. After about 30 minutes of that loveliness, DH made it his job to make sure I readjusted it every time it would slip so that we could be left in peace. After that, I barely noticed it.

choppinbroccoli22 · June 2012

The hospital's policy was CFM, with a box hanging around my neck. I was free to walk around without a pole attached to me (until I was IV'd for pitocin, that is..)

I was able to get into the tub..they just took the unit off me for the time being. I was in there for a long time as I recall, with no monitoring.

I have to say, even with CFM, there was a lot of fiddling involved. As soon as you tuck into position for a contraction, the thing might go faulty on you and lose the baby's heart rate or think it's unreasonably low... the nurses' station will light up and someone will come running in to adjust the sensors on your belly and ask you to try not to bend like that so much... it's just a PITA altogether. The buttons are uncomfortable to wear for hours and hours, too. When your belly gets hard as a rock you feel those things pushing back against your tummy. So... continuous is not NOT a distraction, and it's not a perfect science and may need frequent adjusting.

The one nice thing about continuous, is it gave DH something to do. He could tell me when to get ready, because he could see the contraction happening a few seconds before I could feel it ramping up.

amandaleigh1 · June 2012

I have hatched a new plan-- I want to see if I can request intermittent monitoring by handheld doppler-- I am not sure if this will fly, but really that would be my first choice. I feel like those strapped on things just make things easier for the nurses in some respects, but they can cause so much inappropriate worry that I would much rather avoid.

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