blood pressure cuff attachments

I'm currently reading The Doula Guide to Birth by Ananda Lowe and Rachel Zimmerman. I think it's fantastic so far. I read this paragraph today and had to nod in agreement:

"Other conditions within a hospital that might affect your comfort and coping abilities include a lack of locks on the doors, staff coming and going without knocking, doors rarely being closed behind staff, a lack of comfort tools such as bathtubs or stereos to play music for relaxation, rules that limit visitors of your own choosing, the restriction of food or food being unavailable even it if is permitted, beds and showers that are not large enough for a partner to join you, and being attached to equipment that restricts freedom of movement"

Yes to all of the above. It all kind of creeps me out. (One small thing I do when I am in the hospital with a client is shut the door all the way.)

What I want to talk about now is being attached to equipment that restricts freedom of movement.

And I want to talk about one very small piece of equipment: the blood pressure cuff. This in my mind would be the simplest attachment to detach. I hate the automatic blood pressure cuffs. I understand, after a woman gets an epidural, she needs her blood pressure checked often every few minutes because the blood pressure may drop, and then an automatic cuff might be nice. But for a normal laboring woman, a permanently attached cuff is a nuisance.

Checking blood pressure is such a basic skill. It was the first thing we learned in nursing school. It was fun to practice on each other and get the hang of it. I still enjoy getting my blood pressure taken by a real person. First they gently put the cuff on me; their touch is soothing. Then the cool stethoscope on my arm just feels nice (I love my arms being touched or stroked). Then the cuff inflates, and as it releases, it somehow relaxes me.

Wouldn't it be nice if women in labor were cared for by human beings instead of machines? Is a blood pressure machine that much superior to a nurse taking a blood pressure? Why the reliance on machines over people?

At the last birth I was at the mother finally just removed the irritating cuff. However, when the next automatic blood pressure was due the machine started beeping. We learned to silence it and had to repeatedly press the silence button for the next while. That was almost as irritating as the cuff itself!