The £25 heartbeat listeners- just another thing to panic over?Does anyone have one?

[Hayleyandbaby]

I really want one, but my DP is worried that if I get one and I can't find a heartbeat I'll be worried sick and end up at the hospital every two minutes. I don't think this would happen or else they wouldn't sell them would they? Also, I feel baby wriggling and kicking all the time so surely that will put my mind at rest?

How easy is it to find the heartbeat? Is it ever hidden away or is it always there?

[ClaphamLauren]

I have a doppler £50 and since 11 weeks I have always been able to find a heartbeat. Sometimes it's only there briefly before the little wriggler moves away but I can always find it!

I did hear that sometimes if you are particularly chubby then you can struggle with it - not sure if this would apply to you. I have found it great from a peace of mind perspective and even now at 25 weeks when I feel her moving loads if there is ever a quiet time I can put it on just to reassure me.

You do need to have a degree of being sensible, if you can't find it, shuffle position and try again etc.

[DaisyMoo]

I think you need to work out what you want it for. If it's for reassurance - well you said yourself that you feel the baby wriggling and moving so how well a heartbeat listener help? If you're ever concerned about a lack of movement from the baby then you really need to be seen at the hospital because just hearing the heartbeat does not mean that everything is OK.

If it's just from pleasure of hearing the heartbeat, that's a different matter, but your dh is right that they can cause unnecessary anxiety if you find it difficult to locate.

[Hayleyandbaby]

Hmmm... I'm so confused. My mum has got us one between us for xmas which I'm REALLY excited about but my DP is a worrier so he thinks it will lead to even more worry. I only want it so I can enjoy baby even more, and I don't think I'd be panicky about it. If ever a time came when i couldn't hear the heartbeat, I could always wait til the next wriggle, and then try again to locate the heartbeat.
We have a scan booked for 2 days after xmas so that'll put my mind at rest if I'm clumsey and don't know how to use it at first.
My DP wanted me to ask on MN more than anything as he sometimes can't tell if he's worrying unnecessarily or if he's justified

[spackcat]

IMO it's a bit of a gimmick really-another thing to get pregnant women to fork out their cash for! I had one - Bought it really early on, not supposed to work before 21 weeks (the 'summer' one in argos) when finally LO was big enough for it to pick up the heart beat I listened a few times then got bored and flogged it on ebay! Also if your at the stage where you are feeling movement frequently and it suddenly stops or feels different for more than a little while you should see your mw regardless of hearing the heartbeat or not as it may be some other problem. That's why they tell you to do a fetal kick count rather than buy a doppler.

[iampgatlast]

hayleyandbaby - is the one you are thinking of getting out of argos? i think mothercare sell it too its a kind of light purpley one.

it is advised not to use it until after 21 weeks so i went out and brought one then. total waste of £25 IMO i couldnt pick up the heartbeat and still cant pick up the heartbeat at 31 weeks. the monitor picked up any slight vibrations from movements for example my breathing and silly things like that.

[Hayleyandbaby]

I'm not sure, mum has got us it for xmas so I've no idea where it's from or anything. I think if she's got it we may aswell use it atleast once just to try. If the same thing happens with us, I won't use it again as I don't want to end up worrying about not hearing it. The argos one doesn't sound too great.

[threestars]

I used to work on a delivery suite and midwives would get a bit narked about those dopplers. Purely because if you haven't had training, how do you know what you're supposed to be listening to, or how do you know you're not listening to your own heart, or the sound of the blood moving in the cord, etc.
Saying that, they always took a woman's concerns seriously and would never dismiss her worries. But yes, in my opinion very non-medical opinion, I would agree that baby movements are a whole lot more indicative than the heartbeat. My DS2 was very ill and while his heartbeat was ok, his movements were very minimal.
It's horrible when there is such a long time between midwife appts/scans. If I had my way, we'd have scans every 2 weeks!!

[MamaMaiasaura]

I have the baby listening system and it is nice just to hear him kicking away. I did use it a couple of times on quiet days, but i could hear him kicking so it must have been inwards. DP enjoyed listening in too as he couldnt make a alot of antenatal appts and ds thinks it is great too.

We got the summer one and used it from about 23 weeks. Am now 35 weeks and will use it in other pregnancies and also lending to friends (already they have put their requests in )

[chocbutton]

I was given one and never ever heard DS once even though I spent hours (literally) trying to hear him. Sort of drove me mad after a bit, so stopped trying but even at 30 odd weeks when I hd a quick go I couldn't hear a thing, even when he was wriggling like mad.
I was like iampgatlast and could only hear my own breathing, so ended up in ridiculous situation of lying on the bed holding my breath desparately listening through the cheapy headphones that come with it!
TBH though even the midwife struggled to hear him sometimes, so I think DS was just good at evading us!
I wouldn't bother and would just go with checking movements. good luck!

[Canadiandream]

I used one with ds from about 13 weeks onwards and it genuinely saved my sanity as I had a m/c prior to that and would have gone mad if I couldn't have checked in on him whenever I wanted.

I found that I could always find his hb if I tried long enough. Tbh, it was having the doppler that stopped me panicking in the delivery room when the incompetant mw spent ages NOT finding ds' heartbeat with their doppler because she had it in the wrong place!! So sorry, don't agree that an untrained person can't use them quite happily.

It might be worth researching the frequencies though and checking the one you've got is actually powerful enough to pick up the hb. £25 sounds quite cheap.

[mumzyof2]

I bought one off the internet that picks the heartbeat up from ten weeks, and im 18b weeks now, and STILL cant find a heartbeat! My midwife found it straight away and said it was extremely clear and loud. I personally wouldnt buy one if I were you. Besides, feeling the kicks are much more enjoyable iykwim, and when you go to the midwife and hear the heartbeat, it makes it all the more special. Also, ine cost 50 pounds, and is extremely crackly as someone said before, and all I can hear is my heart and my breathing!

[Spillage21]

Just from a midwifery perspective the thing about listening to fetal heart antenatally is that it's only a glimpse into baby's 'wellness' for a brief period of time.

Generally, movement is viewed as a better indicator of baby's health (which is why listening to heartbeat on a sonicaid at AN visits is not 'compulsory').

A cheap way of listening to heartbeat is use an empty toilet roll and put it on tummy roughly behind where baby's shoulder might be (obviously mums-to-be can't do this!) listen down tube and you can hear the heartbeat ticking away: it's also in realtime rather than digitised....

[lomond]

I got the one from argos with dd2 and was very disappointed with it. DD1 really liked it though as she thought she could hear the baby, most of the time it was me moving!

Looking back I should have bought a doppler or not bothered.

[bethoo]

i got one for reassurance as i had had a missed miscarriage (baby dies but do not bleed until weeks later, found out at my 12 week scan) so i used it from 11 weeks and by the time i was full term i was an expert at finding it! though they say that babies do not like the sound it makes and try and move away from it!

if you cannot find heartbeat early on do not fret as it is the size of a peanut! and when early it is really low in the pelvis.

[mumofk]

I work with ultrasound- the technology used in these things, and get rather worried about these. Midwives listen to the heartbeat for as long as neccesary to check things are ok. How many hours might you spend during your pregnancy just listening? With ultasound machines we turn settings down and use as little power as possible to keep things as safe as possible. There are no proven problems with ultrasound, but everything gets more powerful and we don't know the risks associated with using more powerful equipment- just like there are no proven risks for using home dopplers, but how much research has been done with parents using them? It might all be completely safe, but I couldn't have a clear conscience if I didn't mention the safety issues. When you've got something there you could use, the temptation is very hard to resist ( I know, I have ultrasound machines around me all day!). If you have concerns about the wellbeing of your baby, midwives and hospitals can look at things from a medical point of view and make a judgment of risk vs. benefit.
My concern is that in 10 yrs time they'll say oh yes, we've got a generation of kids affected by x, but we thought it was safe at the time. With anything its very hard to say the only common link is the home doppler, or having a scan, or eating peanuts, and I hope it NEVER happens.
Sorry, don't want to get anyone too worried but just be aware of possible risks. I hope I'm just paranoid!
Good luck all,
mumofk

[madmouse]

I did not get one knowing that I would drive myself and my DH absolutely potty with it. Agree with all others that movements are much more important and more fun. And my lo genuinly hates the thing. He was a master of running off and/or booting it when he was small, a few weeks ago he literally tried to climb in my ribs to get away from it and now he is too big to move away poor thing. So I am happy to let mw or gp do it for as briefly as necessary.

[Spillage21]

Interesting point Mumofk...there was a great article about private scans/3D scans in Practising MW (I think) recently about excessive exposure to ultrasound.