RT Book, Section A1 Aristizabal, Michelle SR Print(0) ID 1159260785 T1 Fetal Monitoring Challenges T2 Natural Labor and Birth: An Evidence-Based Guide to the Natural Birth Plan YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259862878 LK obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159260785 RD 2024/04/25 AB Every time someone comes into Labor and Delivery with a natural birth plan, I cannot help but find myself hoping they are not assigned to me. It’s not for the reason you might think. I actually like taking care of naturally laboring women. I feel like I can be a much greater help to them than somebody who is just going to come in and get an epi. The reason it is so hard is because it is impossible to monitor them. Either I am running in there every fifteen minutes getting a heart rate, in the middle of everything else I have to do, or I am trying to figure out a way to keep the stupid bands in place while they are moving all over the place. I never actually get a good strip and then I have to sit there and chart that. Depending on who the doctor is, it can also be difficult. A lot of them still want the patients continuously monitored, which is nearly impossible. I had one doctor tell me they didn’t give a damn if I had to sit on the floor and hold the monitor in place the entire labor. I wish my job was so easy that I could take the time to do that. I wish there was a better way to let women labor the way they want and still make sure the baby is okay. I also have to say, even though I have read the research that says it’s okay for moms to be off the monitor, every time they are I still hold my breath whenever I go to put that monitor back on. It gives me angina. I guess I am just too anxious.—S. R., Labor and Delivery Nurse