Monitoring Your Baby in Labour: An Evidence-Based Guide to Help Plan Your Birth

The decisions about fetal monitoring are for YOU to make. This is true whether you are considered high risk or not. It remains true even when someone tells you that you don't have a choice and that CTG monitoring is mandatory.

This book supports you to make these decisions.

You'll find:

-Simple to understand explanations about how the research about fetal monitoring was done and what it shows

-Explanations about ALL your options

-Guidance on how to make and communicate your decisions with confidence

Topics covered in the book include:

-Intermittent auscultation with a Pinard or Doppler

-Cardiotocograph (CTG) monitoring, also known as electronic fetal monitoring

-"Wireless" telemetry and "beltless" systems

-Fetal spiral electrodes and intrauterine pressure catheters

-Fetal blood sampling for lactate or pH measurement

-Central fetal monitoring systems

-Computer interpretation of the CTG using artificial intelligence

-Fetal oximetry

-CTG use during pregnancy and at the start of labour (known as admission CTGs)

You'll find reliable and easy to understand information about the impact of fetal monitoring type on rates of stillbirth, neonatal death, brain injury (seizures, hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy. How the choice of monitoring method impacts on women's health and their experiences of birth are also addressed. Dr Small provides an insider's glimpse into the workings of risk assessment and unhelpful communications styles you might encounter in maternity care system. To support your decision-making, the book offers practical, easy to follow guidance to understand what you want for your own birth, even if things take an unexpected turn.

This book is for women and their supporters planning their birth or seeking more insight into their last one. Whether you plan to birth in a hospital, a birth centre, or at home - there are decisions to make.

If you are a midwife, obstetrician, obstetric nurse, childbirth educator, or doula, you should own and have read a copy of this book. Informed consent for fetal monitoring requires a deep understanding of the evidence for each option. Professional education is typically lacking when it comes to understanding what the research does, and doesn't say. If providing respectful woman-centred care is important to you, Monitoring Your Baby in Labour is an essential tool for your clinical practice.

Dr Kirsten Small is a researcher, educator, and retired obstetrician. She is an internationally recognised expert in fetal monitoring and the person behind the Birth Small Talk blog (www.birthsmalltalk.com). Her vision is to promote and protect respectful maternity care. She lives on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia.