Anyone heard of this...

**spiritedbirth** · 31-05-2008 11:50

I FIND THIS ******** AND NO NEED PROCEDURE TO BE AWFUL. I HAVE STARTED THIS THREAD SO PREGNANT WOMEN CAN READ ABOUT ONE OF THESE INTERVENTIONS WHICH I FEEL IS NOT MENTIONED A LOT..

MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO PUT ON YOUR BIRTH PLAN AS A PROCEDURE YOU DO NOT WANT

Internal monitoring differs from external monitoring. Instead of both leads being strapped to the outside of the woman's body, the Doppler lead is replaced by a smaller lead that is placed inside the woman's vagina and attached to the head of the baby. The internal lead is called a 'fetal scalp electrode' (or FSE). It is only used to monitor the baby's heart rate during labour, usually if external monitoring is not being reliable (but sometimes if the caregiver prefers internal to external monitoring).

A fetal scalp 'clip', or electrode, is a small, circular, corkscrew-shaped needle attached to a coated wire. The clip is covered with a long, protective, flexible, plastic covering and guided up through the mother's vagina by the caregiver doing an internal examination. This procedure should not be any more uncomfortable than a normal vaginal examination. The waters need to be broken to attach an FSE to the baby's head. If they are not already broken, this will need to be done to allow the electrode to be attached.

The needle is gently rotated into the skin on the baby's scalp (or bottom if the baby is breech). The internal electrode monitors the baby's heart rate more accurately than an external Doppler. Once the clip is attached, the plastic cover is removed, leaving just the wire.

The lead is then plugged into the monitor to produce the readouts.

HOW CAN A NEEDLE WHICH IS IN THE SHAPE OF A CORKSCREW BE GENTLY PLACE INTO THE BABY'S SCALP????...

**onemummmy** · 31-05-2008 11:53

this happened to my baby...

**spiritedbirth** · 31-05-2008 12:03

I am so sorry one mummy It is not to make you feel bad just to point out what could happen if you let the hospital system control your birth!!

I feel women should know, it is not just your baby either, it is happening every day in hospitals everywhere..

Hugs to you

**onemummmy** · 31-05-2008 12:07

I didnt really let them so to speak, if you have had an intervention riddled birth you know they use scare tactics and do things without you knowing & explaining things. I didnt know any of what they were doing at the time because I was strapped to a bed and totally out of it. I dont remember giving consent for anything, as far as Im aware walking through that door was consent enough for them.. Thanks for the hugs though

**spiritedbirth** · 31-05-2008 12:12

Originally Posted by onemummmy

I didnt really let them so to speak, if you have had an intervention riddled birth you know they use scare tactics and do things without you knowing & explaining things. I didnt know any of what they were doing at the time because I was strapped to a bed and totally out of it. I dont remember giving consent for anything, as far as Im aware walking through that door was consent enough for them.. Thanks for the hugs though

God that is so wrong isn't it? I was at a birth recently when they said to Mum 'we are just going to attach this little moniter to the babys head' I explained everything to Mum and of course she declined..

I am sorry I had to bring it up..but who else is going to..not the hospital!! they will just do it without consent as you have already explained.

**onemummmy** · 31-05-2008 12:17

yes they will sadly. And what a crock saying 'we are just going to attach this little moniter to the babys head' like its no big deal! If they were honest about how it goes into the babies head I think women would be kicking them away.

**shed** · 31-05-2008 12:22

Yes, I have heard of this. I have seen what it does to the baby's head as well.

Not something I would want. They can shove it up their own....

A doppler is good enough. You can hear the heart rate enough for the purpose.

You don't need to hear every single heartbeat anyway. I didn't let them put the doppler on after each contraction, only in between. Bossy britches ay, lol. oh well.

Onemummy, you know its not your fault. Its just the poxy system. That's why its important that the word gets out, but I know that you 'get' that

**missie_mack** · 31-05-2008 12:31

Yes its a awful thing. Ours wasnt a corkscrew it was a black ring. After they pressured me into having the ring in they then told me I couldn't use the bath as it would corrode the cable. I was really cranky about it because I had made it very clear that I intended to use the bath- infact they had already run me a long bath before they hooked me up

Worst yet they narrowly missed my DS' ear and scarred his head

Never again

**abiishu** · 31-05-2008 12:31

My DD had one of these put on her head too. They said it won't hurt bub and it won't leave a mark...

She still has a mark on her head, she's nearly 8 months old!

Makes me so sad and angry about my birth all over again

Maybe it is better to be safe than sorry, they thought bub was in distress and hence all the monitoring, but I just knew she was ok. I was never worried about her at all during my whole labour (and it was long!!)

Next time I am hoping to trust my own instincts a lot more, and escape from all the stupid hospital interventions... which all seem to be sugar-coated for women in labour, don't they?

Rant over.