I was on the monitor a lot coz of having the drip to augment my labour. It was a pretty old clunky one, and I had to stay by the bed. I was still able to stand up and move around the bed etc, but it had to come off for me to go into the bathroom. I didn't mind having the monitor on, I liked the sound of the heartbeat, and I like being able to see the contraction "ending". The midwives only popped in every so often to check on me during my labour (which I didn't mind, we were having a problem free labour, and it was nice just being me and DH). But it would be sad to have them not pop in at all if they could see the monitor from their desk. However I'm one to welcome new technology wherever possible so I guess it comes down to the midwives themselves and the care they want to provide. Surely midwifery isn't something you'd do unless you loved it, so there must be an element of caring that wouldn't be lost due to a new machine? Am I just naive to the midwifery profession? 8-[