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Multiple births

Clip on head during birth

10 replies

Methenyouplus4 · 23/07/2014 21:58

I've been informed this is the only way to get two clear heart rates, however I really dislike the idea of a clip being put on the head. Does anybody know much about this? Is it just sticky or does it go under the skin? Does it mean I'll be stuck on a bed?

From what I can gather, close monitoring of heart rate doesn't actually improve outcome for baby, just makes intervention more likely. All a bit confusing as didn't need this with my two previous births (singletons).

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Methenyouplus4 · 23/07/2014 21:59

Just to be clear, my main objection is that it would cause the baby pain. My secondary issue is being stuck to the bed.

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LittleBearPad · 23/07/2014 22:00

Not that I saw it in any detail but it like a little prong. It will go under thr skin and DD has a tiny scar still. The hospital insisted as they were having trouble monitoring her heartbeat during my induction.

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redcaryellowcar · 23/07/2014 22:05

Ds had one, it just hooked under a bit of skin, can't imagine it was painful but probably they would rather not have it. They popped one on him as i had a long induced labour and they kept losing the trace from the other monitor. I was able to move more once clip on (within confines of the length of the wires) as midwives happier that they knew Ds was ok as when the round tummy monitor kept losing contact they had me sitting still on the bed.
Hope your birth goes well?

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GalaxyInMyPants · 23/07/2014 22:06

It isn't the only way to get two clear heart beats.

They can put two transducers on your abdomen. They need to then monitor the trace carefully to ensure its two different heartbeats, but it should be easy to see if its the same as the two traces will be exact copies.

Sometimes it can be difficult to pick separate heart beats up and may need to use the clip for the first twin but I reckon they should at least try first.

Yes, it goes Under the skin. Its a very fine/thin wire/prong.

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slightlyinsane · 23/07/2014 22:14

We had the transducers at first but they kept loosing t1 so used a clip. It was uncomfortable when they did it and because it came off a couple of times I was stuck to the bed. I wasn't in the least bit bothered about this, I wanted 2 healthy babies and would of done anything to ensure that happened.

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Methenyouplus4 · 23/07/2014 22:15

Thank you for the feedback. I certainly would rather try the none invasive method first. When local mw has listened to heartbeats so far she commented how they were really distinct (even I could tell the difference clearly), though presumably that may change in labour.

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Diamondsareagirls · 24/07/2014 10:27

I had to have one on twin 1. It clipped on to his actual head and he did have a little mark on his head for a few days afterwards but it's totally gone now. We tried for a while with two monitors but we kept losing one heartbeat and it meant that I was having to keep very still which was pretty difficult in labour. On balance I would go with the clip again as it gave us reassurance that we were getting two accurate heartbeats and I could move around a bit more which was vital for me coping with the pain.

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slightlyinsane · 24/07/2014 14:57

What sort of twins are you having?

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Methenyouplus4 · 24/07/2014 21:33

They each have their own placenta.

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DottyDot · 24/07/2014 21:37

ds had one as they were worried about his heart rate while I was in labour. Bloody thing kept falling off though - they had to keep re-attaching it quite a few times - it looked like a tiny hooky thing that can't have been hugely comfortable (and was a bit of a pain for me as I'd asked for as few internal exams as possible and it ended up being a flipping free for all...!) but it was necessary to monitor him and in the end one of the traces caused them enough concern to give me an emergency section, so it was a relief in the end to get him out safe and well.

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