Ask (the other) Dr. Laura > What's wrong with fetal monitors?
Dear Mariana,
Fetal monitors are a wonderful invention that when used correctly can save the life of your baby. But as Dale Bernucca writes in the Enjoy Birth blog, fetal monitors as they are now used end up interfering with the natural birth process and initiating a chain of medical interventions that can lead to a C-section.
With constant fetal monitoring, the mom gets strapped to a table and is unable to walk around. We know that walking hastens labor. When the mom is strapped down, labor often stalls. Many moms say that the experience of being immobilized also heightens their anxiety, which can also stall labor. To get a stalled labor started again, moms are often given medications to jumpstart labor, which cause excessively strong contractions and make it more likely that she will need pain meds. These can cause the baby to be born medicated and not breathing normally. Or, worse, the stalled labor can result in a C-section, which is major surgery and not good for either mother or baby.
I am not a midwife, but do check out the Enjoy Birth blog, or Childbirth Connection, for knowledgeable assistance that will help you to have a good and safe birth.
all blessings to you,
Dr. Laura
Laura Markham, Ph.D.
I like your section on birth. The photos are beautiful and it is very reassuring and has a lot of good ideas, it helped me to think about the birth and plan ahead and i had not thought of these things in this way before reading it. but i have a question please, i still don't understand why you don't like fetal monitors, i thought they save the life of the baby like a window inside, that is what my doctor said.
mariana