The midwife will assess how best to monitor your baby during labour. If you have had no problems during your pregnancy, and you have no relevant medical problems your baby's heartbeat will be monitored with a Pinard's Stethoscope or a Sonicaid, which is a hand held machine which allows the midwife and you hear the baby's heartbeat. If the midwife has any concerns about the labour the baby's heartbeat will be monitored more frequently or continuously with a cardiotocograph (CTG) monitor. This machine prints out a graph of the pattern of the baby's heartbeat, and monitors the contractions.