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I’m 39+2, and after a sweep yesterday, went into labour. My contractions, at their best were 2 mins apart. At this point a head midwife came in and said that since i was VBAC, I needed to get on the bed for constant monitoring and that a canula would need to be put in my hand. At this point, my contractions virtually stopped!! Medical intervention led me to an emergency section with my youngest, and this has played very heavily on my mind!

My question is, could me stress/ fear or being stuck on the bed being monitored have contributed to me stopping contracting?

hi- not sure about the stress thing but just wanted to say that i have had 2 vbac now and although with the 1st one i had to be monitored, i absolutely refused to be on the bed and spent most of my labour in a rocking chair or leaning over the bed. ask if your mat hospital has the wireless monitoring (known as telemetry i think) as for the canula i am completely with you on this, they are so painful and with my 2nd vbac i refused the monitor and the canula and they checked baby using a doppler every 15 mins. for this one it is in my notes that i refuse to have the canula and will only agree to telemtry monitoring due to probs with my coccyx. good luck with your labour and i hope you get to read this in time.

Hi Kareena,

Studies have shown that stress or fear can certainly stop/stall labour, but a sweep can also trigger false or a niggly/stop-start early labour. It’s possible that although contractions were regular and close together, labour wasn’t actually established and was just triggered by the sweep, so everything suddenly stopped. Did you have any vaginal examinations? Was your cervix dilating? A dilating cervix is usually a sign of active labour.

As Claire has said, it’s your choice as to whether you have a canula and constant monitoring in labour. Although it’s advised, it’s not compulsory, and it’s ultimately your decision. If you don’t want it, you don’t have to have it. You could maybe ask to have short periods of monitoring instead so you are perhaps more free to move around if you prefer, or just ask them to listen in with a hand held Doppler every 15 minutes. Feel free to ask about the pros and cons of the canula and constant monitoring. I hope it’s not long for you now.