Labor Pro

The most important thing I've learned as a doula is how to read a labor. I can tell, just be looking at a women through her contractions and how she acts between them, what stage of labor she is in. It's an art, not a science, and of course there are some women who are the exception. It's an art, born of respect, love, patience, and time. One of my biggest frustrations in a hospital is the litigation based care. Women labor best if they are uninterrupted. How easy is it to create a pattern and rhythm if you are being poked and prodded and belted? With a doula it is definitely easier, but still hard to keep momentum. And I have seen women told over and over "this is what is best for your baby" blah blah blah. In research studies, intermittent monitoring is just as safe. They need that 20 minute strip every hour in case you have to go to trial. (I am not talking about high-risk cases, by the way. Or if you are undergoing an induction. It is vital in those cases to be continuously monitored, because Pitocin can really stress a baby.) A women needs to move doing labor. A women needs to feel in charge and powerful during labor.
The saying "less is more" is absolutely true about labor and birth. But just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I found this. This really has the potential to invade hospitals and become the new standard of care.


Labor Pro

Labor Pro is “a novel labor monitoring system that using ultrasound imaging measures continuously and objectively measures fetal position, presentation and station along with cervical dilation. Labor Pro quantitatively assesses and records vital labor parameters in real-time to enable obstetricians to make informed and accurate decisions throughout the labor process to improve both the quality and cost of obstetric care."


The website lists Labor Pro’s capabilities as able to:

* Determine continuous station & position of fetal head by ultrasound imaging,
* Provide radiation-free pelvimetry & birth canal modeling.
* Perform one-step computerized “non-invasive” trans-vaginal digital examination (I
* Determine intermittent or continuous accurate measurement of cervical dilatation
* Record comprehensive labor data recording



It also touts its “unique benefits” as the following:

* Non-invasive, precise measurement of station & position
* Improves assessment of non-progressive labor
* Supports decision-making before operative delivery
* User friendly, on-screen display of all labor parameters
* Enhances patient comfort and sense of security



First you have to place “just four little electrodes” externally on the mother’s pelvis in order to continuously assess fetal station and position and also enables the user to ”recognize CPD early”. Second you just have to clip (or screw) “just a few position sensors” to the woman’s cervix to accurately and continuously measure cervical dilation. And third you just have to screw “just a small little electrode” into the baby’s head.




According to Frost & Sullivan, the organization that awarded Trig Medical for the Labor Pro technology, “The Labor Pro is staff and mother-friendly and requires only basic training in ultrasound usage, obviating the need for an obstetric ultrasound expert,” adds Ms. Prabakar. “Moreover, the technology employs non-invasive, radiation-free pelvimetry as well as a single-step computerised digital examination. All labor progress tracking data including the fetal heart rate monitor are integrated in the Labor Pro display and automatically recorded by the system, which helps reduce staff workload.”


This is absolutely horrendous. That a company would even think this was a good idea!
One thing that really concerns me is the chance for serious infection. All those wires are just like a superhighway into the uterus. Hospitals are not clean places. MRSA is a big threat. Constant cervical checks are bad enough. This is a disaster.
People need people, not machines.