if you were induced, how were you monitored???

[saralou]

were you strapped up to monitors and stuck on a bed... were you able to move around or did you have intermitent monitoring of the baby???

What would have been missing would have been the attachment for the machine - it is the same machine that is used but there is a different lead that plugs into the monitor.

The test you are describing is fetal blood sampling (FBS) which is additional to the CTG tracing and tells you the the pH of the baby's blood and what is known as the base excess.

This test is able to say whether the baby has suffered from an acute event or chronic - so it would be able to say whether monitoring earlier would have picked up the baby being distressed or not.

Definitely worth going over the notes with the labour ward manager and/or consultant.

aaaah, thankyou! thats good to know. they stopped doing the talkback service at the maternity hospital, so i've kind of let this fester, until i was talking to a student midwife yesterday, she's arranged all this for me, bless her!

Induced with both of mine.

DD1 - once waters were broken - strapped to monitors unable to get off the bed with bp monitor going off on my arm - sometimes mid contraction (nothing like adding insult to injury)

DD2 - not monitored at all - apart fromt he odd mw popping into ward to make sure was doing alright - obviously kept telling them I was fine when actually in agony! Hence mad rush to labour ward for delivery. So not monitored and able to move freely.

I was completely strapped up for my induction, but I'm sure it depends on whether you have the pessary to "start things off" or the full on sytocin drip job (which is what I had). I absolutely hated it, felt completely trapped, and as far as I am aware dd was absolutely fine throughout. We had a c-section anyway (which is what I should have gone for in the first place I think - dunno why I was so keen on a VBAC!)

I had pessary both times - never needed syntocin drip.

I was continuously monitored and had an IV antibiotic drip in but still found I was able to be mobile. Apparently I did pull the IV out a couple of times when moving (hand was very badly bruised the next day).

DH said midwife was great (I can't really remeber anything about the experience) and whenever I went to try and change position she would let out a cry of "She's moving everyone" and would then run around lifting wires and moving things so I could get to where I wanted.

I think a lot depends on your midwife. I have friends who have given birth in the same hospital but have had very different experiences.

1st induction strapped to a bed.

2nd induction (3 weeks ago today) continuously monitored, but with a remote mobile box, so able to go out to the toilet if I wanted to, etc.