Continuous monitoring

[ALS17081982]

I'm hoping to have a VBAC for my next baby and I think the policy is continuous monitoring at my hospital.

If you have continuous monitoring how much are you able to move around? Would I be able to walk round the room? Stand by the bed? Kneel on the bed? Or would I be confined to laying on the bed?

Thanks

I was able to walk around the room as far as the leads were allowing me. I paced for most of the time, sometimes leaning on the bed. I could have knelt on the bed, although I didn't want to. The very last thing I wanted to do was to lie down!

I didn’t allow it - it’s not actually up to them. It played havoc with my TENS, which was keeping me sane.

I'm the same - I absolutely don't want to have to lie down on my back.

I basically want to check whether there is a chance continuous monitoring would mean I can't get off my back (in which case I would really need to reconsider VBAC!).

They ought to be able to manage with long leads, and they can't force you to lie down. It was fine for me, occasionally the trace was lost but we became expert at readjusting it!

Some hospitals have telemetry CTGs which don’t have any leads. Obviously these make it much easier to be mobile. Regular CTGs do limit how far you can move as the leads aren’t that long but you should still be able to change position, sit on a birthing ball etc. It does largely depend on how well the monitors are able to pick up baby’s heart rate and to some extent your contractions though. If your BMI is higher or you have awkwardly positioned baby for example, it might be hard to get a proper trace if you are moving around. Don’t forget you can decline continuous monitoring if you would prefer not to have it!

If you're overweight continuous monitoring is tougher because they'll keep losing the trace.

In my case they lost the trace too often so I ended up with an internal trace which meant I was on my back in bed. Ended up as an emergency section and DD1 was born with tiny cuts all over her scalp where they'd attached the monitor.

Not an experience I wished to go through again so DD2 was elective section. It wasn't a horror story by any stretch but not something to be repeated if there's a choice.

If you're not overweight though there's a decent change you can move as freely as the length of your leads allows.

"Decent chance" not change ffs!

The idea of being ‘tied’ down by leads seemed like torture to me.
I asked for the wireless ones and was told they were all being used.
I asked them to check, they half heartedly did and then came back and said they couldn’t dind any.
I asked to speak to the midwife/ person who was in charge of the ward (I was in labour so not concentrating on people’s titles!) and I asked her to clarify how many wireless units they had on the ward and to confirm that they were all unavailable. I explained that being forced to lie down or stay quite static seemed like torture to me. I asked that if all wireless machines really were unavailable at That she write it down for me in my booklet.
As soon as I asked that they write it and document it, a wireless one magically appeared!

Ask for the wireless one. They should have some and if not, ask that it gets noted.

I was obese and had very few issues with the trace and moving around. It's not inevitable that being overweight will cause issues.

It's not inevitable that being overweight will cause issues

I agree but it does up the chances quite a bit. It's not a guarantee but more likely statistically so worth knowing as part of a risk assessment.

I was able to pace, change position etc. I had written that I was hoping for an active labour on my birth preferences and midwife was really supportive.

At the hospital I gave birth in, all their monitors are wireless. I had to have continuous monitoring after DCs heart rate plummeted shortly after my waters were broken. I mostly sat on a birthing ball, could go to the loo etc. Couldn't really leave the room, but I had freedom of movement until the epidural 😅

I could sit on a birthing ball whilst connected. There was no difference between the trace coming off then to when I was lying on the bed.

I would ask your hospital about how many wireless monitors they have and how a VBAC would be in your case.

I had a VBAC and also had to have the labour augmented so was on a drip as well. I could stand up without any issues and got by without any pain relief by leaning over the bed and then getting on all fours on the bed to push. The thought of lying on my back was torture in itself!

I would really recommend hypnobirthing as I found that the breathing exercises really helped to reduce the pain.

I wore maternity leggings most of the time which were really good at keeping the CTG in place.

At one point I got really annoyed with the CTG and the drip and decided I’d had enough so called the midwife to unhook me from everything pretending I had to go to the bathroom. She’d just started her shift but was lovely and did as I asked. Turned out I was in transition and she delivered my baby 20min later!