1. Listen to Baby's Heart
A fetal heart rate monitor is exactly what it sounds like: a device that tracks your baby's heart rate during labor and birth. Changes in your baby's heart rate can indicate fetal distress, which can turn a basic labor and birth into a risky event. During your labor, ask your nurse to show your baby's heart rate on the monitor and to explain what constitutes a normal rate.
2. Place One on the Outside of Your Tummy
One type of fetal heart rate monitor is worn externally. The nurse places a small circular device onto your belly, held in place with belts or a girdle. A wire runs from the monitor to a machine that shows your baby's heartbeat. This heartbeat usually prints out as a straight line (like your heartbeat on a chart), with some variations. In most hospitals, the printout also runs to the nurse's station so that the nurses can continually track the rate even if they're not in the room. There may also be a computer monitor, displaying the printout, hooked up to the fetal monitor.
3. Baby's Head Is Where the Heart (Rate) Is
If an external monitor isn't providing the results your doctor wants, he may suggest an internal fetal heart rate monitor. Your doctor places a small electrode through the vagina and into the skin on your baby's head. The internal monitor doesn't go in far and doesn't seem to bother the baby. The nurse will tape the monitor to your thigh, and then run a wire to the machine. The printout is the same as with the external monitor. However, the internal monitor is more accurate than the external monitor. The doctor may recommend using the device, if he feels the external monitor isn't accurate, or if the baby is showing some difficulties.
4. Get a Mobile Monitor
Most experts agree that if the labor is low-risk, and the baby is doing fine, mothers only have to be on the monitor for about 15 to 20 minutes every hour. You don't have to be in bed or lying down while using the monitor; you just have to be close to the device. Some hospitals use portable heart rate monitors that allow you walk the halls or take showers while still on the monitor.
5. Very Common Practice
Hospitals and most birth centers use fetal heart rate monitors. Some home birth midwives carry them, though they are heavy and awkward. Most midwives use a more portable device called a fetal Doppler to check the baby's heartbeat during labor. Interpreting the heart rate monitor takes training, and few lay people, including doulas, know how to read a fetal monitor properly.
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