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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Fetal heart doppler

26 replies

PickettBowtruckles · 19/05/2018 20:46

Can someone please talk me down from the ridiculous ledge I’m on?

I bought a fetal heart Doppler today and of course that meant I had to try it out today!

I’m only 8+2 but YouTube and google are full of stories of people finding heartbeats at 7+ weeks (even though the Doppler itself says 12 week plus!). I had an early scan last week and saw baby’s heartbeat of 143bpm but after no luck in finding it tonight I’m worrying myself and have just got a sore lower belly from poking myself repeatedly with the Doppler!

Has anyone else had experience of them and how early could you find the heartbeat?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Mumprobs11 · 19/05/2018 20:49

You really should not use those...why did you buy it?? They will only cause worry and anxiety when used by an untrained person.

Girlwiththearabstrap · 19/05/2018 20:50

Get rid of the doppler!!! Home dopplers are not recommended for many reasons, including this one.
The earliest I heard the hb was at 16 weeks - my very experienced midwife took a while find it, and that was using proper equipment. At 8 weeks you have nothing to worry about not being able to find it.

LarryFreakinStylinson · 19/05/2018 20:50

And that’s why they shouldn’t be available for the general public to use.

littlemissalwaystired · 19/05/2018 20:52

100% throw it out. You have no idea what you're listening out for - they cause trouble those things. There's a reason midwives don't try and listen before 16 weeks

LarryFreakinStylinson · 19/05/2018 20:54

And also a reason why midwives spend 3 years at university.

JackietheBackie · 19/05/2018 20:57

I am a midwife with nearly 15 years experience and I struggle to pick up the fetal heart everytime at less than 16 weeks - sometimes later depending on the position of the placenta.

If you haven't had any bleeding or pains and you heard your babies heartbeat last week there is unlikely to be anything wrong. When is your scan? If you are really worried you could get a private reassurance scan. Or do a cheap pregnancy test.

I didn't use my sonicaid on myself during my pregnancies for this reason. It is hard not to worry but the monitors seem to add more stress than less.

Thewhale2903 · 19/05/2018 21:07

Do not panic at all sometimes even midwives can't find the heartbeat, unless you are a midwife you have no idea where to put this to listen for a heartbeat, and the slot where it will pick it up even if it does will be tiny.

Pandapoppy · 19/05/2018 21:39

Ive had a fetal Doppler for my first and this pregnancy. I don’t think I found a definite heartbeat till after 10 weeks both times. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Fyi before about 15 weeks I wouldn’t be able to find it every time I tried so if I couldn’t get it after 5 or 10 mins I just assumed the baby was in the wrong position and left it for half a day or so and would usually find it just once every 2 or 3 tries. A really full bladder helps.

Original poster

PickettBowtruckles · 19/05/2018 21:43

@JackietheBackie thank you so much for your comment, it helps to hear from a professional. My next scan is 4th June, I paid for an early reassurance scan last week which is when we saw a heartbeat but we thought the doppler might be a nice idea for home. I wasn’t totally expecting to hear it at all but when I had a google and found people earlier finding it, it of course made me wonder why I couldn’t.

@Pandapoppy I think I’ll do as you suggested, leave it a few days and try again. I have a scan in just over 2 weeks anyway so not too long to wait to hopefully see it again.

OP posts:

Thetimehascometo · 19/05/2018 21:43

Having spent the past 2 weeks in hospital being monitored every 4 hours I can assure you that there are SO many other things you could be picking up, and machines play silly games too! Even trained midwives need to know when to go err no you’re wrong to something a machine is saying. Put the Doppler in the bin and ignore you ever have any concerns call triage. The midwives and doctors there will then be able to make the decision as to if baby is ok or not... and even then it will take more than a Doppler reading! It’s just not worth it!

RosieCotton · 19/05/2018 21:44

I hate them dopplers. They do more harm than good. Im 32 weeks now and even the hospital have difficulties finding DD heartbeat at time. My placenta is at the front and my little one like to evade the Doppler. I would never suggest using one.

butlerswharf · 19/05/2018 21:49

Honestly I'd bin it they are not a good idea

Dobbythesockelf · 19/05/2018 21:58

With my dd I had an anterior placenta so even the midwife struggled to find it at times. 8 weeks is really very early and I would get rid or at least put the Doppler away if I were you.

gryffen · 19/05/2018 22:07

Dopplers are hopefully going to be banned in future as unless you have training you could be picking up anything and think it's alright and then received the worst news ever.

Our area actively tells people not to buy them and if they do they tell them where to get training at cost to the patient.

Sorry mama but I'm not a fan of them.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 19/05/2018 22:15

Put it away till you're at least 14 weeks and even then don't be alarmed if you don't pick the heartbeat up.

8 weeks is ridiculous OP.

mummabubs · 19/05/2018 22:18

We were actively told not to buy them too, they're the bane of midwive's lives. Honestly OP, as others have said you can either legitimately not be able to detect a heartbeat (which means you worry unnecessarily), or you can pick up any number of sounds that to an untrained ear sound like a heartbeat but aren't, ie the placenta) and then you get false-reassurance. I totally get that pregnancy is an anxious time, especially those early weeks before you can feel kicks yourself but a Home Doppler kit is not your friend.

PhoenixDown · 19/05/2018 22:21

I'm a midwife and I wouldn't be able to pick up an FH at 8 weeks. The embryo is literally 1cm in size. I don't advise anyone to get a home doppler- they cause unnecessary worry, require training to use, and can give women false reassurance in case of reduced movements etc.

savagebaggagemaster · 19/05/2018 22:29

About ten years ago my dh took the doppler and found another use for it in his job (he works in technology) after my midwife told me to get rid of it. As an already anxious person who'd suffered missed m/c I thought it would help. It made me much more anxious and obsessive, deciding that I needed to hear the h/b every day, then twice a day... You can imagine what happened when I couldn't find it. Panic stations. I felt so much better once I ditched it!

zaalitje · 19/05/2018 22:59

Midwives often won't use their £500+ medical grade dopplers at 16 week appt because it's so difficult to find the HB, why do you think your £30? home doppler will find it at 8 weeks??

Home dopplers should be banned, it's a bit of medical kit that people are trained to use,a YouTube video does not replace several yeats of training and experience that midwives have?

Do you know how to tell the difference between a fetal HB and the cord pulsing?
Do you know how to tell it from the arteries in your groin?
Do you know what a healthy HB sounds like or what to look out for as signs that something isn't right?
They can give a false sense of reassurance when something is wrong, and because you feel reassured you don't seek help when you should.

One of the countries largest fetal health charities, Count the Kicks, is campaigning for them to be banned OP, do you really think they're a good idea? Please, please get rid of it.

Sylv2017 · 20/05/2018 07:54

Baby is not even as big as your thumb. Literally like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I have anxiety and I was so tempted to buy lots of scans and a Doppler... but in the end I just tried to relax and let what will be- be.

I found statistics for healthy pregnancies quite reassuring

Lauren83 · 20/05/2018 08:21

I know most people hate them but mine was a godsend due to history of MMC I had 12 ultrasound scans and was having them weekly, I bought the Doppler around 8 weeks but couldn't pick it up, I made sure I tried straight after a scan so I knew all was fine, I could pick it up from around 12 weeks and picked it up daily from then, I used it twice a day until I felt baby move for first time around 20 weeks then I didn't use it again. I always timed my HB before finding the babies so I knew the difference

4GreenApples · 20/05/2018 08:29

During my last pregnancy the midwife wouldn’t even try to find baby’s heartbeat until the appointments after 20 weeks, because it can be hard to find the heartbeat early in pregnancy.

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 20/05/2018 10:23

I highly, seriously doubt that untrained amateurs are picking up the heartbeat of a 7 week foetus, which is miniscule and barely even has a heartbeat yet, with a cheap OTC Doppler.

Almost certainly they are picking up something else and just think it's the baby. Because it's not for amateurs to use.

Throw it in the bin OP.

Mousefunky · 20/05/2018 12:40

Midwives often don’t bother trying to find the heartbeat at the 16 week check up because they don’t want to cause unnecessary worry if they can’t find it, I was always warned not to worry if they couldn’t find it. So if a professional may struggle to find it at 16 weeks, you definitely will at 8 weeks.

I do have a Doppler and use it every so often but only started using it at 14 weeks.

GummyGoddess · 20/05/2018 12:50

Even a few weeks ago at my 38 week appointment it took the midwife a minute to get ginormous DC2's heartbeat on the doppler because of the way he was laying, and she knew roughly what position he was in as she could tell me where his spine/bum was and we could see his feet moving around.

At 8 weeks baby is something like grape/raspberry size in total, the heart is a much smaller mass. Think of all that room you would have to search for to find something that is only a few mm across!

I would also point out that it's really easy to pick up the pulse from the cord/placenta instead of baby unless you know what you're listening for, so it can create false reassurance at later stages.

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