VBAC at Whittington or UCH anyone? (or Royal Free but not keen to go there)

[Mammina]

Anyone had one? Mainly were you strapped to the bed the whole time or were they quite happy to let you move around & be on your feet? The midwife at the Whittington more or less said I'd be strapped to the bed most of the time which is really not what I had in mind. Obviously the safety of the baby (and me) is the most important thing so I'm not going to be stupid but I thought it was possible to use some sort of mobile monitor or am I dreaming?
Thanks

bump

Hi migola
This may have been answered by now but just in case it hasn't - it doesn't matter what hospital protocol is regarding monitoring. The choice is YOURS. Write a birth plan stipulating that you don't agree to constant monitoring strapped to a bed, but that you're happy for mobile monitoring (if that's what you choose). You can also choose to have intermittent monitoring, which, incidentally, has been shown to be equally as effective (or ineffective, depending which way you look at it ) as constant monitoring. Being strapped to a bed is not conducive to a fast efficient labour!
I'll say it again - the choices are all YOURS!

I know we at the Royal Free have had a lot of bad press on the forums in the past but we are improving!

Just so you all know we now have a Consultant Midwife (Amanda Mansfield) who runs a specialist VBAC clinic to support normal birth. Last month we also took delivery of brand new state of the art "Wireless" fetal heart monitors for our labour ward (no other maternity units in our area have these!). This means that if you are keen for a VBAC you can remain as mobile as you want without compromising on fetal monitoring! :}

That's very very encouraging to hear Nina! Thanks for that

sorry have been away which is why i didn't reply - thanks to you both. nina99 that is very encouraging indeed - i'm currently with the whittington but your feedback is making me think of changing to the royal free...