Refusing/delaying Non stress testing

[lillymonster]

Anyone done this? I am going with a hospital based midwife group. I had done nst with my first DD with an OB when I was 36 at 38 weeks, and honestly I felt bad for being there because I had no complications or issues, it was for my age only. Women were coming in with blood pressure issues and I felt guilty for taking away space from people who really  needed it. Plus it was a PITA going 2 times a week.

This midwife group is starting the ultrasound earlier, at 32 weeks, with nst testing at 34 or 36 weeks. I agreed to the ultrasound because I have an irrational fear of something and want to ease my worries and to see the babies position, to see if I need to go to the chiro, but I don't see any need for the NST testing just because I am 40 and have had no complications with this pregnancies (blood pressure still low, no GD, nothing out of the ordinary other than bad morning sickness) I am vbac so I don't want them to find one minor thing to make me need a repeat c-section.

[Buddhamom]

I am 40 and if it comes up and I have had no issues, I will decline.

[~Adorkable~]

i would tend to say that they are at least a very low level invasion for sometimes very good info. that being said i would maybe hold off till 36 or 38 weeks unless you have the slightest signs of anything out of the norm.

dont be too worried to take up bed space, they will take who ever needs to be there. the information is always good to have and in some cases it is good to have a "normal" reading to start ith to compare later tests to, this is a good reason to get one done even if you dont have known issues. you may find out your normal is differnt than their normal and that would be good to know later when they are looking at something and do not have a starting point to compare too

•Adorkable•

[Cassaba]

I am 42 and I was also seeing a hospital based midwife who wanted to start twice weekly u/s and non-stress tests at 36 weeks due only to my age. I read up on them in "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" and decided that I didn't want them. Like you, my BP has been great, no gestational diabetes, no swelling, urine always good, etc. She was fairly insistent, so I switched to a new hospital based midwife (different health system) who said that it would be "overkill" unless there was some other indicator (like my BP started to rise). I just felt like doing the tests could trigger early onset of a cascade of interventions. It's almost like the more information they have about you, the better candidate you are for interventions. My old midwife tried to use the fact that one (out of 4) of my 3-hour glucose readings was high, so that might be a reason to do the testing. You need 2 high numbers to be considered diabetic, and I only had one that was barely out of range. I am much happier with my new midwife. I just saw her OB backup for my 37 week appointment and he asked me why we changed midwives. When I told him about my not wanting to do the testing, he didn't even blink an eye.  

[HappyMommy2]

If you do decide to do the NST, eat a donut on the way in.  That way the baby will be jumping around and kicking - which is what they want to see.  That might help avoid the cascade of interventions.

[tracymom1]

Originally Posted by HappyMommy2 

If you do decide to do the NST, eat a donut on the way in.  That way the baby will be jumping around and kicking - which is what they want to see.  That might help avoid the cascade of interventions.

Oddly enough, this is very good advice - though I would recommend an item like juice or fruit.  Eat it about 20 minutes before you arrive.  This way the baby will not be sleeping and they will get the "required" number of kicks needed for the NST to be reactive.

If you decide to refuse the NSTs, be prepared for a bit of a struggle.  If this is their norm and you ask them to deviate from it you may be in for several uncomfortable conversations.  When I worked at the Ob/Gyn office, they were VERY particular about making absolute sure that patients who were AMA or had GD/high BP had NSTs twice a week.  There was no leeway.  Make sure you arm yourself with information and be very clear about your wishes.  Good luck!

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by tracymom1 

Oddly enough, this is very good advice - though I would recommend an item like juice or fruit.  Eat it about 20 minutes before you arrive.  This way the baby will not be sleeping and they will get the "required" number of kicks needed for the NST to be reactive.

If you decide to refuse the NSTs, be prepared for a bit of a struggle.  If this is their norm and you ask them to deviate from it you may be in for several uncomfortable conversations.  When I worked at the Ob/Gyn office, they were VERY particular about making absolute sure that patients who were AMA or had GD/high BP had NSTs twice a week.  There was no leeway.  Make sure you arm yourself with information and be very clear about your wishes.  Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I had no problem last time because it was in the afternoon, which was when DD was active. This baby seems a late evening kicker. I normally didn't care other than the annoyance aspect (now I have a 3 1/2 year old I need to find a babysitter for) but then talked to my doula who mentioned since I am a vbac, and 40, they would be more chances of getting a repeat c-section if they found anything unusual. The thought never even occurred to me because I never had an issue before. I don't know if this midwife office will even care, but my choices are very limited in the area if I switch.