I had monitoring and was still active ... they put the monitor on me and every now and then they'd plug it in...

I think it gets down to if you're having an OB then they aren't comfortable without the high-tech gadgets, whereas midwives are a bit more relaxed?

My best advice for you with the birth plan is to start with best case scenario, and then put in trigger points at which point you want stuff to happen and not before. Cause I think that saying stuff like "I will have no painkillers" is setting yourself up for failure if you need them cause your body's been working really hard and you just need a rest?

Good luck!!!