Underwater monitoring not possible?

[lilimama]

Hello

quick techy question...

Is underwater monitoring not possible if having a water birth? Have been told my only option for future births in Nlands is hospital under cont monitoring. Not at all happy about this and researching alternatives incl. birth in another country but much prefer to stay here. would be happy with the hospital if I could take my pool but what about the cont monitoring, which they said they are happy to do externally?

Pooo to the netherlands rule on HBAC. For a country so advanced and fair on the obs/gyn front, they are seriously behind on this one.

poooooooooooooooooooo!

Underwater continuous monitoring is not possible, you are normally monitored every 15 minutes for one minute with a pinnard or sonicaid. The same way that you are normally monitored at home. Enjoy your lovely baby and don't rush in to having another one just because you want the experience. Good Luck.

thanks max bear for the info. and you're quite right about the not rushing. Somehow doing the research and being well informed helps the processof coming to terms with the last experience and if I know I can arrange a (hopefully) more empowering set up next time, I can relax in the knowledge.

There is a kind of monitoring called telemetry monitoring which is wireless but otherwise like a standard CTG machine which is used for continuous monitoring, and can be used underwater in theory. Some hospitals in this country have them, but they tend not to get used very much, and I don't know whether they have them in the Netherlands as standard!

It is true that continuous monitoring is not possible under water although there is a company that does have this technology but not all hospitals will have it, nor is it necessarily a good idea.

Why would you need continuous monitoring?

In my unit, women who have had previous C/S can labour and birth in the pool if they want to. They have intermittent monitoring which is the usual for other labours.

Mears, you are lucky to work in a unit like that, they are few and far between. Do you mind saying where it is? Maybe I'll come and join you oneday!

very interesting..

mears, is it quite usual in the UK for women who've had CS to labour/birth in water or is maxbear saying that it's quite unusual? thanks

Lilimama and maxbear - yes it isn't particularly usual but we aren't the only unit that does it. Basically women have the right to labour and birth however they choose. We have a midwifery unit attached to the main consultant unit so if any problems arise it just means a transfer through a set of doors. It means that we can relax strict criteria about who is suitable to labour in a midwifery unit.

Not all women will want to labour in the pool, but those who ask are supported in their decision. I am in the west of scotland - ayrshire

My hospital has a midwifery unit attached to the main consultant unit, with again just a set of doors separating them, but it doesn't stop them imposing strict criteria about who is suitable to labour in the midwifery unity .

Sadly Ayrshire too far away...

Hi Lili, I remember your labour threads and birth announcement

Am I right in thinking you dilated ok?

DS was a emergency cs instead of a planned hb, however my mw is more than happy for me to have a home waterbirth this time. Although I think this is because I dilated ok last time.

I hope you and your lo are well xx

PortandLemon - you can insist on using the unit - you actually cannot be prevented despite strict criteria.

The hospital will have a Supervisor of Midwives and possible a consultant midwife who can support women making choices outwith the 'norm'.

When 'high risk' women mention homebirth then people start to be more flexible

Hi lilimama - Sorry to contradict you Mears and Maxbear but yes underwater monitoring is possible and is out there, but as Mears has said, its probably going to be a question of who has the technology in the nl.

Ironically, we have several Philips (Dutch company!)telemetry machines in our labour ward, which are waterproof and wireless, and so it is possible to have a continuous CTG running underwater in our birth pool. Last week I assisted in a VBAC poolbirth, with intermittent monitoring, and a few months ago one of my colleagues did a full synto induction and waterbirth using the telemetry machine . If you are having a VBAC and you accept the (?)risks of intermittent monitoring in NL, it should make no difference whether you are on land or water really though and I am surprised that they are being strict on this.

I would say that although our unit is very medicalised most of the time, we do have a few women who get exactly what they want, either through being on our 1-1 scheme, (which has much more relaxed rules and does homebirths / hospital births / domino etc) or by being quite forceful and determined, or by the sheer good luck of meeting sympathetic staff when they turn up in labour ward.

So, there are options out there Lilimama, you just need to find them, so dont be too despondent .

I wasn't very clear in my first post - yes underwater monitoring is possible if you have the technology but not all units have it. It isn't certain though that it is beneficial to have continuous monitoring in water in the same way that the benefits of monitoing continuously have been over rated from when it was introduced.

Mintpurple - what is your experience of telemetry machines?

Mears - I think they are fantastic, we have mobile epidurals in our unit and we often have women wandering their rooms and the corridors of labour ward, pushing a synto pump and with an epidural, which serves to keep them mobile and still monitor the baby and contractions. Obviously there is a bit of loss of contact on bigger women, but usually gives an acceptable trace. They are also pretty robust and havent had too much trouble from them.

In the pool room I usually have a monitor in the far corner of the room and use the FH transducer as a waterproof doppler, which is really unintrusive and yet satisfies all concerned.

I would thoroughly recommend them.

Well I've worked in three large units and although I have heard of telemetry I have never come across it at all. It seems rediculous that it is not more widely in use. Must be too expensive