Wireless Monitors Provide Laboring Mothers Mobility

McLaren Greater Lansing

The wireless monitors are used to monitor fetal heart rate, maternal pulse, as well as contraction frequency and duration.

There were almost 4 million births recorded in 2017 according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Childbirth is the most common reason for admission to US hospitals.

Since there is a large population of women delivering babies each year, comfort during labor is a priority for hospitals, including McLaren Greater Lansing, who just recently purchased 6 wireless monitors for it’s birthing center.

“We are monitoring all of the patients that are in active labor or patients that are needing to augment their labor,” Elizabeth Lindsey, DO said. “It is a safety issue for the baby.”

The wireless monitors are used to monitor fetal heart rate, maternal pulse, as well as contraction frequency and duration. All of these measures are important to monitor during labor because they tell the physician how the baby is doing.

“They were able to hook me up to the wireless monitors by using stickers on my belly,” Teasha Buduen, a patient at McLaren Greater Lansing said. “It allowed me to walk the halls which helped my labor progress and assisted with pain management.”

Buduen used wireless monitors during her labor and gave birth to a 6-pound, 14-ounce, and 18.5 inch long, healthy baby girl.

The first moments of mother and newborn after childbirth. Mother holding her newborn baby child after labor in a hospital.

“Wireless monitoring gives patients the freedom the leave their room, walk the halls, or use birthing balls, without the leash or restriction in movement,” Lindsey said. “As doctors we can see how labor is progressing, safely monitor baby, and allow the laboring mom freedom to move around her room or the unit. This combines the safety of hospital monitors with the ability to move around as if you were at home.”

This project was supported in part by a grant from the McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation. Grants from the Foundation are made possible by the generosity of its donors. If you would like to support the wireless monitor program at McLaren Greater Lansing, or learn more about the Foundation, please call 517-975-7100, email mglfoundation@mclaren.org, or visit www.mclaren.org/lansingfoundation.