Most American women will give birth in a hospital. Most of these women will become very familiar with the external fetal monitor. Two belts will be placed around the abdomen. One, the tocometer, will tell the care providers how often the mother is contracting. It does not determine contraction strength, or indicate pain level, just whether or not she is having contractions and how often. The second belt uses ultrasound to detect fetal heart rate. For many women, this tool will be used to determine whether or not the baby is tolerating labor well. In some cases, the results are misleading.
"No test is perfect. But almost every time we whisked a mother back to the operating room, and I cut through skin, fat, fascia, and finally the muscle of the uterus, expecting a blue, floppy baby, the child I delivered emerged pink, healthy, and a little bit angry.
Were we saving lives and averting disaster? Or were we performing unnecessary surgery?"
Click here for Alex Friedman's full story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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