I was just told at my midwife appt this week that the hospital has changed policies in the past few months and now required constant fetal monitoring of all induction, VBAC and higher risk births.

Now, I am all for making sure our babies are healthy and doing well during labour, BUT our hospital seems to have variations of women's positions during monitoring which is frustrating. One midwife told me I would have to stay in bed, another said that some women are able to be on the fit ball & may not be able to roam heaps but are able to change positions and get more comfortable.

I have in my birth plan a clear indication that I don't want to be monitored constantly, that I want to be able to have breaks & shower etc etc... she said today the only option for that would be once my membranes were released & attaching a monitor to the baby's skull. And I don't know how I feel about that either.

So... for those who have been through it I just want to know:

1. what was involved in your fetal monitoring? i.e. doppler, trace, "antenna" etc?

2. Were you able to have intermittent monitoring?

3. Did you know ahead of time what was available to you? Had you made decisions prior to labour?

4. Did you find it useful? or just more scary?