Better wireless monitoring in Fort Worth
While most women do not need to be continuously monitored during their labor, there are some women that either due to hospital policy, personal risk factors or patient/physician preference will spend most of their labor having their baby’s heart rate monitored. This is called continuous fetal monitoring. Currently, continuous monitoring often reduces a woman’s ability to move around for comfort and her ability to use gravity to speed up her labor. Some women find the belts and straps of the monitors themselves to be uncomfortable and the constant readjusting of of the straps to be tedious each time they change position. Some women have even expressed that they were told to stay in positions they found painful in order for the monitor to work correctly.
Good news though for women in the Fort Worth area…two hospitals will now be offering a new and improved way to monitor those women that warrant this type of surveillance during their labor. The two hospitals are Harris Methodist in downtown Fort Worth and Harris South West just south of Fort Worth. The new “Monica” monitoring system has no belts, does not need to be adjusted.
While research shows that intermittent monitoring is more appropriate in low risk pregnancies as it actually increases the likelihood that a Cesarean delivery will occur when one was not necessary, the fact remains that many women are monitored continuously during their labor. For example, it is necessary in the case of an induction or augmentation where pitocin or other agents are used to start or strengthen labor and most hospitals require that all women laboring after a prior Cesarean delivery are monitored continuously during labor.
This new monitor seems to offer women all the advantages of being wireless and mobile but meets their care provider’s concerns about keeping a close eye on the baby. Sounds like a win/win right? Furthermore the new wireless monitors are waterproof opening up the option of hydrotherapy to more women.
Are you expecting to be monitored throughout the course of your labor but not giving birth at either Harris Southwest or Harris Downtown Fort Worth? If being wireless and mobile is of interest to you, you may want to ask your provider if the facility where you will be having your baby would consider purchasing these monitors. Hospitals do things based on consumer demand and if enough women ask for this type of mother friendly care – there is a good chance that more and more hospitals will jump on the bandwagon. Even if you are at one of the hospitals starting to use the Monica system, you may want to discuss how comfortable your care provider is in using the wireless monitor during one of your prenatal visits. (If you have other questions about about movement and positioning in labor no matter how labor is being monitored, we invite you to talk to one of our doulas. We are experts at this no matter what else is happening!)
Expecting women should also discuss with their care provider how they will be monitored in their labor. ACOG recommends intermittent monitoring in most cases but it is always good to know what to expect. Even from hospital to hospital intermittent monitoring looks different as some consider 30 minutes on monitors to 30 minutes off a way to intermittently monitor, other care providers like to listen to baby before, during and after contractions once every 30 minutes (and there are lots of other protocols in between being done in the Dallas and Fort Worth area).