16 week appointment - heartbeat

[kittycat01]

Hi all,

This is my first pregnancy. Does anyone know if I will definitely get to hear my baby's heartbeat at my 16 week midwife appointment? There is no mention of it in my pregnant notes/folder but friends who live in different areas of the country have said they have got to hear it! Just wanted to know whether to bring my husband to my 16 week appointment or not! Thanks in advance.

Sorry I should have said it's not my first pregnancy but it's the furthest along I've even got (previous miscarriages) which is why I'd really like to be able to hear the heartbeat.

I. Did with both my dc and the mw said we will at my 16w apt

Mine did but said it sometimes dosent pick up at that stage. We did hear baby though

I think it depends on your midwife, @kittycat01 - mine offered, but friends had mentioned to me that they don't always so I was fully prepared not to hear it.

I'm wondering if you could phone in advance and ask?

If things are progressing normally you should be able to. No guarantees ever though.

It varies by area, the midwife didn't listen at my 16 week appointment, it was just the boring bits of wee sample, breath test and bits of paper :) do you know anyone local to you who has been pregnant recently to ask?

@RedPandaFluff thank you. I will try and get hold of her tomorrow but she only works part time and never responds to me/calls me back. I'm probably better calling the antenatal clinic actually.

It varies, some trusts or midwives don't at 16 weeks because it's hard to find and it causes more worry if they can't find it. My 16 week was wee check, whooping cough jab and a quick 'how are you feeling?'

@kittycat01 Sorry to read about your previous miscarriages and I understand your anxiety in wanting hear the heartbeat galloping away. I think some areas have moved away from listening to the heartbeat at 16 weeks because it can be difficult to hear it in some cases which can cause lots of unnecessary worry. I'd definitely try to find out what the norm is in your area before getting DH to join you, mine would have been a bit at having time off work to watch the midwife dip test my wee and hand me more leaflets

My consultant did. But I had been prepared for them not to do it as I know it depends on the area. It was more of a would you like me to have a go at listening in type thing rather than him being fully confident in being able to find it

Hiya, I had really bad anxiety due to ivf and previous MC, at my 16 week appt I saw a bank/temp MW and I think because she was temp she was willing to bend the protocol . She did caveat it heavily saying we might not find it straight away or at all, but luckily she found it right away, like a steam train

If your midwife does listen in for a heartbeat you could always video it for your husband?

I’m not expecting to hear mine. I’m 15+5 tomorrow when mine is. It was Thursday making me 16+1 but I had to cancel! I have a private scan next Sunday so I won’t be too disheartened if she doesn’t. I’m not sure it would make me worry more if they couldn’t find it x

I did at mine last month. Midwife was very matter of fact and confident she’d find it easily and she did! She also encouraged me to film it for my OH as I hadn’t expected to hear it so had gone alone.

It depends on your trust, where I live they won't use doppler until 24 week appointment now due to it being difficult before that and often leading to more anxiety if they can't find it. I was 23+3 at my "24 week appointment" and my mw still wouldn't have a go!

My midwife never listened to the heartbeat.. not in a single appointment I had with her. I found it quite strange but she said they don’t unless I had any concerns! I even had an appointment on a day I was worried about movement and she still didn’t listen.. she just sent me across the road to the hospital for proper monitoring. Now obviously, they needed to the monitoring but hearing the heartbeat on the Doppler would have at least reassured me a bit while I had a fairly long wait for a monitoring bed!

Next time, I think I’ll be a bit more assertive & ask!

Yeah I did, ask your midwife to have a listen in :)

Don't be alarmed if it takes the midwife a while to find the heartbeat. Took mine about 5 minutes my boy was tucked away x

Depends on the trust. Some places won't because it can be difficult to find.

I really wanted them to and they did, but they struggled to find it. Took a 2 midwifes, around 5minutes to get a bit of a listen in on the heartbeat. It was the longest 5minutes of my life and now I get why some places don't even try until 24 weeks.

She did explain that depending on babies location they might struggle or not find it and that it didn't mean anything bad if that was the case. So if they do and it's taking a while to find, don't panic.

Mine asked me after feeling for my uterus and I said yes. I think as you’ve had losses before you should ask them to try - hearing the heartbeat may reassure you.

Mine asked if I wanted her to try but was very firm with the "I might not be able to find it so if it may cause any anxiety I recommend not attempting it"
I knew it wouldn't concern me as it can be tough to find and that's why not every midwife does it. Mine couldn't find it at all, just a lot of noise from the placenta. I wasn't worried though and I had a consultant appointment 2 weeks later and the midwife listened then and found it in a second and it was so strong. The difference 2 weeks can make.
Are you asking because you want dh to be there for the first listen or just because you want him to hear it?
I ask because we got to hear it at our 20 week scan and my midwife checks for it now at every appointment so if its just about him hearing it then I'd wait until a later appointment unless it's easy for him to have a bit of time off to come.
The later appointments are more interesting as well because they'll start to measure your bump etc not just ask "are you doing OK"

Oh and definitely ask if you'd like them to try as the worst is that they'll say no. But if not finding it might cause you any anxiety at all then don't listen. You might want to hear it for reassurance but there's a reason they don't always listen for it and it wouldn't be good for you to end up worrying over nothing.

I was told at my 16 week appointment they don't do them until after the 20 week scan. Just another 6 weeks to wait until my 24 week appointment!

I have mine at 5.30 this eve all being well so I’ll report back and let you know what was what at mine! X

It depends how you’re going to feel if they are unable to find it. If you will worry then I’d say it’s not worth it as it’s only going to add to your anxiety.
I suffer from anxiety so didn’t mention heartbeat at my 16 week appt and neither did midwife. I did have a private scan at 17 1/2 weeks where I got to hear it nicely, could you maybe consider doing that? Xx