After I had a a lot of bleeding in pre-labour,I had continous monitoring for most of my labour (which, thankfully, was only 3 hours). I wasn't allowed to get off the bed (I remember begging the midwife at one point to just let me walk, just for a few minutes, but it was a no go). It made it a really excruiating experience.

Having said that, I'm glad I had it. My baby's heart rate had dropped to 40 bpm and wasn't coming back up. I had no idea anything was wrong, and I was given an option of getting him out in two pushes or going for a c-section (I managed to push him out myself and he was bright blue). I can see the argument against my point- that I might have been one of those women that ended up with an unneccasery caesarian, but better to be safe than sorry.

It's one of those things that in some cases is not only neccesary, but highly advisable. In a normal labour, no, but if anything starts to go wrong, don't hesitate to use the technology that we are so lucky to have available to us.
Best of luck with your birth experience