Has anyone used a home doppler?

[Paie]

Considering getting one- often see them going second hand for £10/£15. Purely curiosity and would be quite nice to hear baby moving around- he stops wriggling anytime DPs hand goes near my bump!

So, anyone had one and liked it/ disliked it?

Also- how many times in your life are you going to be able to listen to a little heartbeat coming from inside you!?

I bought one from eBay and purely used it as an entertainment thing instead of a reassuring thing. If you get one, bear in mind if you can’t find the heartbeat that it’s not time
To panic and that they aren’t as sensitive as a midwifes one. If you use it occasionally to listen in to your little one then I don’t see the harm. Just don’t get reliant on it if you feel reduced movement etc xx

Don’t. The advice from health care professionals is that they provide false reassurance if there’s an actual problem and anxiety if you can’t find the heartbeat.

I'm a midwife and we don't recommend you do this. It's not as easy as 'picking up a heartbeat'. You can be listening to your own heartbeat. The machine can sometimes get confused and 'double' the rate. You can also be hearing placental sounds, all sorts. People can become reliant on them for assessing fetal wellbeing. It's movements that should be focused on. It's not an accurate picture of fetal wellbeing, you can hear a heartbeat on a Doppler and it be gone minutes later. Please don't get one.

I don’t have one but my friend did. I can see why they cause worry.
She tried it on me last week (17 weeks) and struggled to find a heart beat. After a bit she said she did, but I was sceptical as it sounded nothing like the heartbeat I heard at my 16 week midwife appointment. And I guess that’s the second issue, you don’t know what your listening for.
I wasn’t impressed with it as I could see it worrying me, but that’s just my opinion :) I know some people find them reassuring

@ClangerTwanger
That's my thought process- use purely for entertainment purposes- don't rely on it for anything!
It's my second pregnancy and probably my last and I kind of regretted not getting one to play with with first DC!

As purpledaisies says also - they can cause unecessary stress and anxiety. We've had ladies come in reporting that the baby has a heart rate abnormality - a particular example was a lady said the FH was over two hundred. The machine was doubling her pulse. I sometimes can't find a fetal heart at 16 weeks despite being experienced, and when I refer for a scan all is well.

The home ones are totally useless. If they were that reliable I imagine midwives would use them as the NHS ones cost more than a tenner! As the mw above said, half the time you may not even be hearing the heartbeat, as the machine can double the maternal pulse or pick up blood flow through the cord.

I know the op said it was just a bit of fun but I always worry that subconsciously they could be used for false reassurance later down the line.

They are nice to have, I’m the same as you, didn’t have one with previous dds so wanted one this time around. I don’t see any harm if it’s just abit of a fun bonding thing with baby. I used mine the other day (26 weeks now) and couldn’t find his heartbeat, but I’d felt him wriggling so I know it’s all good and didn’t worry xx

I bought one for a tenner. It was a very cheap, low-tech affair, so no danger of me thinking it a reliable means of assessing my baby's health. It provided a bit of fun for DH and I from about 12 weeks, each of us with an ear bud in, straining to hear this little heartbeat. From 18 weeks, I could feel movement, and that was far more fun! The Doppler was promptly relegated to the cupboard.

I have one which I used a few times solely for entertainment purposes. I’d never have relied on it for any reassurance of the well-being of my baby, so I don’t see the harm.

I only used it only a few times as i didn’t fully understand whether there are any risks or discomfort for the baby in overusing one, but it was so lovely to hear that little heartbeat! It helped make the pregnancy more real for me in the early days before I could feel movement.

I never had a problem finding the heartbeat - the placenta sounds and my own heartbeat sounded quite different - but it did take a bit of time sometimes!

I used one before I could feel movement just for fun. No harm as long as you listen to the warnings and exercise common sense. Stopped using it after movement began.

Also, as PP said, I wouldn't overuse it either, in case it's damaging to baby. I used mine twice- at 13 and then at 16 weeks.

@lampard Sorry to contradict you, but unless you're trained you actually don't know for certain what you were listening to. Doubling of the maternal pulse is a thing that HCPs are trained to identify as it can be mistaken for a foetal heartbeat. It may well have been the baby, but it isn't a guarantee.

Sorry @lampert! Can't spell!

@Girlwiththearabstrap fair enough. My midwife confirmed I’d got it right though when I did it in front of her (no she wasn’t endorsing me using one) so I was happy enough I had heard the things correctly.

A bit miffed at the concept of a baby in your uterus being entertainment.

It’s just more unnecessary, manufactured plastic tat really, isn’t it? I don’t get it.

I didn’t mean the baby as entertainment. I meant listening to it’s heartbeat (or what’s perceived as its heartbeat) as a bonding, nice moment. 🙄

My best friend is a midwife of many years experience. She couldn’t even always find a reliable heartbeat with a hospital Doppler on herself when she was pregnant so I think that tells you everything that you need to know. Don’t get one.