Your safety during birth

Close monitoring is necessary in order to prevent injury and to foresee any underlying danger, to enable early correction. Being a time of intense activity, stress and anxiety, you need close monitoring and interaction in order to ensure that stress level is reduced and you focus on the progress of your labour.

A mum who is closely monitored and cared for during labour is able to cope much easier-as monitoring minimises risks involved in labour that could cause harm to mother or the baby .

Key areas in monitoring of labour include:
Mum’s condition
Your physical and mental state is carefully monitored during labour to ensure that you are coping well. Fear must be allayed and your stress can be alleviated by the presence of a labour companion of your choice and a competent care giver. Pain relief may be necessary depending on the intensity of the pain you experience. You can also request for pain relief as a personal decision.

Your physical assessment includes observations of your blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature. Uterine contractions are monitored for frequency, duration and II strength. Here you are advised to explain how you feel. Your abdominal palpation is also observed. Your care giver should keep you and your birth partner updated on the labour progress.

Baby’s condition
Close monitoring of your baby is vital to ensure that the baby tolerates labour and is not subjected to distress. Frequent monitoring of the foetal heart rate is carried out and any signs of distress, such as a heart rate below 120 or a rapid heart rate of 165 and above are noted and attended to. Quick judgment and action is taken if distress is noted. The colour of the amniotic fluid is observed too. If it changes to greenish/brownish, the baby is most likely in distress and has to be rescued as soon as possible.

Monitoring cervical dilatation
This is the most exact measure of the progress of labour and is estimated from 0 to 10cm, the latter being full dilation. It is done digitally by carrying out a vaginal examination every four hours as labour progresses. It is also done when the woman feels like bearing down.

Your well being and that of your baby does not require use of special equipment, but mainly careful and individualized observation of the uterine contractions and cervical dilation.

END: PG 37 /50