How did you ask for very little monitoring during your birth?

[morningpaper]

I'd like to avoid being continually strapped to a monitor next time around (in a few months) but I'm not sure how to go about getting this. I assume that once I'm in the hospital they will strap it on for a bit of monitoring, but should I then ask for it to be removed, or what? What did others do?

They only monitor you with a hand held if you're at home mp, don't see why it would be any difference in hospital. I wouldn't have thought it was standard to strap you to a monitor as opposed to hand held monitoring but I could be wrong. Can you ring and ask what the policy is? I would put it in your birth plan if pos too.

Ah thanks! I will investigate further.

I was monitored with just a hand held for most of the time. I think it was hospital policy, or it could just have been the policy of my own midwife. Not sure.When I did ante-natal classes at the hospital, they explained that there was a move away from constant monitoring, but not sure if that is happening nationally.

with first baby 3 years ago I wore the belt and had continuous monitoring

with second babe a few months ago I was hardly monitored at all. I didn't have a birth plan second time around and every now and then the hand held was used. THink hospitals are moving away from continuous monitoring
good luck!

Isn't it contrary to NICE guidelines to monitor constantly, unless there's some specific problem? I would just say - nicely but firmly - that you don't wish to be monitored in that manner, regardless of policy.

I remember being told that the midwife just needs 20 minutes of monitoring, so what my dh did was timed it and then found the mw to take the belt off the belt as I needed the loo! It didn't go back on after that!

Thanks to you all for the advice and reassurance. I was strapped to the monitor as soon as I arrived in the hospital and it was kept on throughout the labour and birth (which took about 200 years). There were problems which the monitoring picked up on, but that was only much later on during the second stage. This time I will definitely ask for a hands-off approach!

I wanted to walk around for the whole of my labour with dd2 so I only "let" them monitor me for a few minutes every now and then. I simply asked them top take it off (I felt really trapped when it was strapped on and I had to lie on the bed)

Surely monitoring is a good thing? I just felt safe having it iyswim

I think that's fine Blossomhill if it's what you want, but it's better to have the choice if you don't want to be sitting/lying still for hours.

electronic fetal monitoring

Blossomhill - unecessary monitoring can lead to labour problems because of immobility.

The current recommendation is that low risk women with normal pregnancies should not have continuos electronic fetal monitoring. Listening in for 1 minute every 15 mins in first stage labour and every 5 mins (or after each contraction if preferred) in second stage is an effective way of monitoring a baby.

at the hospital i was in they actively encouraged me to be up and about but came in every so often to check on things. that was until i had the pethidine which knocked me out!
then i had epidural and contractions almost stopped so had that stupid belt thing on for the rest of it!

I put in my birth plan that I didn't want to have the belt monitor thing. I made it clear that I wanted to be as active as possible. When we got to the hospital the midwife used the belt monitor on me just to check I was fully in labour, but after that, she just used the hand held one. Hospital were great about helping us keep to our birth plan. DH helped me write it so he knew exactly what I wanted in case I was in too much pain to ask for pain relief etc. It really worked for us.

I was continually monitered during my first labour because I had diamorphine followed by an epidural. Stuck on the bed and unable to move was not fun.

For my second labour I wrote a birth plan, hadn't done one for the first, and I put in it that I didn't want continuous monitoring. The midwife I had was brilliant the first thing she did was read through my birth plan. Throughout the rest of the labour I was just checked with a hand held monitor. At the end I had a monitor strapped on becuase when my waters broke there was mecconium and it was policy but by then I was pushing and was past caring, just wanted to get my baby out into the big wide world.

Sure morning paper, I do see your point totally
I personally just felt better having one on!

with dd3 they wanted to monitor me, but i wanted to keep moving. they managed to strap the minitor on whilst i was standing. we did lose the trace a few times, but i was able to move about a bit. i was mainly standing at the end of the bed gripping the railings during contractions.