Heartbeat/placenta

[Girlhelp123]

Hi :)

When I'm using the Doppler I am only picking up the placenta beating but cannot find the heartbeat. As morbid as this sounds does anybody know if the placenta beating means the baby is still alive. This is my second child, I am 11 weeks and have 1 week left until my first scan but I am really worrying and cannot settle or get excited as I'm scared of receiving bad news. Any opinions would be appreciated, TIA :)

As far as I know it's not a good idea to try and find a heartbeat so early using a Doppler. I think experienced midwives sometimes take a while to find it at 16 weeks plus and always warn you they might not be able to.

I know, and i know finding no heartbeat isn't always bad news but just wondered about the placenta beating as I picked that up :)

Here's a link from kicks count about why they reccommend against using a home doppler:

www.kickscount.org.uk/mums/your-babys-movements/why-shouldnt-i-use-a-home-doppler/

I didn't have the doppler at my midwife appointments until later than this, so maybe the heartbeat is quite tricky to pick up at this stage? If you have any concerns then talk to your midwife x

I'm not worried because I can't find the heartbeat I totally understand at this stage it's pretty much impossible, I'm just a worrier anyway and have been since the day I found out. thanks for the link though, I shall take a look :) x

Definitely too early! I didn't use my Doppler until 22 weeks and it was amazing :) you'll get to see your baby soon, just try to be patient :)

twinny seeing as op is 11 weeks pregnant the kick counts advice doesn't apply. If you read it they recommend against it because people use it for reassurance when having reduced movement and that's bad because a heartbeat doesn't mean baby is not stressed so you should still get checked over if you have concerns. At 11 weeks op won't be feeling movement and the midwives wouldn't do anything this soon anyway if she was a bit further on and movement reduced.

I think as others have said it will be so tricky to find the heartbeat so early but it's good you're aware of that and not getting stressed. You obviously know what you're listening for as well if you know you're hearing placenta/your heartbeat not the baby. I didnt use mine until I was 16 weeks so can't really advise and in answer to your question I really don't know sorry but good luck with your scan, not long to go! Hopefully all is fine.

I know it wasn't answering the OP's question, I was just making the general point that it takes a lot of training to correctly interpret the doppler sounds, so by all means use it to hear the nice swooshing sound, but don't rely on it for reassurance if you have concerns about your baby.