Home Dopplers your experiences?

[Wotsits4357542]

I’ve bought a home Doppler and really regret it!
I used it a few times yesterday and picked my own heartbeat up then after ages of using it heard what I thought was a background heartbeat for about a second. Couldn’t find it again. Used it this morning and still can only hear my own. It’s not causing me worry, feel stupid for getting it! I’m about 15 weeks anyone else who couldn’t pick it up and everything was fine? Is it normal not to hear it?

Unless you know how to listen for accelerations, decelerations and beat to beat variability you absolutely should not be using home dopplers. They provide false reassurance and there have been far too many babies lost when women delayed or avoided seeking help as they heard the ‘heartbeat’ and thought all was fine.

Madwife123, if you are listening for bonding rather than reassurance, what difference does it make? And a lot of women use them in early pregnancy and then don't as they feel movement.

What we do t want surely, is women checking themselves in later pregnancy, declaring everything fine and not getting concerns checked out? Wheras if I'm checking for bonding at 14 weeks, it's not because of a concern, and even if it was, the pregnancy is not advanced enough to do a trace etc, and any problems with the heartbeat would likely only be picked up at the next midwife appointment anyway.

I had mine so that my husband and I could better bond with our child, so our parents could listen in, so that when morning sickness was vile I could remind myself why I was doing it. If I couldn't find it, it didn't matter because I knew how they'd move round and hide, and how the placenta could be (and was was with my second) often in the way.

Banning Doppler's because some people misuse them is like banning scales because they are unhelpful for people with ED.

@Babyboomtastic totally agree with you there !

Your doing it way to early. I've only started using mine at 32 weeks pregnant, and still I wouldn't go on it. Just nice to hear it if you can find it.

I used mine from 9.5 weeks, have a look on YouTube as there are a lot of tutorials of how to use them depending on how many weeks you are. Make sure you don’t get confused about your heartbeat, pulsing of the placenta etc. Baby’s heartbeat will be much much faster, sounds like a galloping horse. At 15 weeks you need to be searching really low down, baby is still tiny.

@Babyboomtastic The point is MOST people misuse and you can’t compare them to scales, they are a medical device designed to be used by a trained professional, not comparable to weighing scales at all.

Banning Doppler's because some people misuse them is like banning scales because they are unhelpful for people with ED.
It's not at all.

One is a way of measuring something, just like a tape measure.
The other is a medical instrument that requires training to use properly and that medical professionals are actively warning against people using.

There's always some people who think they're the exception and they know more than those professionally trained.

It's a medical instrument because it's historically only been used in that setting. Now it's available for purchase it has a dual purpose for bonding and curiosity. If people misuse them, then maybe we need to focus on preventing that misuse rather than banning them from those that do use them responsibly.

It's not as if people are warned they shouldn't be rely on it, and that they should get any concern be checked out. It's frustrating when people still don't listen but surely as with other things in life, there's a personal responsibility to use tools appropriately.

@Madwife123

Do you have any sources to back up your claim that most women misuse them? And in any event, a lot of people abuse alcohol - it's still available. A lot of people couldn't be trusted to use a chainsaw safely but we give them the choice. If people feel ill they may not be able to drive safely and could kill others - we still let them make a decision on their own capability and trust them to act responsibly. Pregnant women often compassion about being patronised and treated like children when pregnant, isn't this just another example, where a decision is made for them because they can't be trusted?

Mine really helped to reassure me after a traumatic loss in the past.

I managed to find the heartbeat at eleven weeks despite being a fatty, but I spent ages reading tips on how to do it. I only paid twenty quid for it though, and I sold it for the same later on.

Once you get to twenty weeks, I don't see the point in using a doppler because you can feel movements anyway.

www.kickscount.org.uk/why-we-want-home-doppler-sales-to-be-regulated

www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/186393?path=/bmj/339/7730/Feature.full.pdf

www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/home-foetal-heart-monitors-risk/

www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/about-us/tommys-midwives-blog/word-us-home-dopplers

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/at-home-fetal-doppler

Do you think all these organisations are campaigning for the ban to ruin your bonding or because we don’t trust you? Babies have died and are continuing to die as a result of false reassurance provided by home dopplers, that’s why a medical device that needs training to use correctly should not be available for the public to buy, nothing to do with treating women like children or not able to make their own decisions at all. This was never designed for home use and it’s dangerous to promote its use as safe.

Madwife123
Sadly, you're probably wasting your time because those who think they know more than medical professionals who've trained for years and medical researchers who specialise in an area will still be convinced that whilst some people don't know what they're doing, they definitely do know.

It's a bit like the people driving unreasonably slowly think everyone else is a reckless driver because they're safe, and those who are speed freaks think everyone else is a snail slowing down their awesome driving experience.

The devices themselves are perfectly safe though. The problem is women that misuse them. I can understand why there is concern, and it's tragic that babies die, but it's not because their mums used a Doppler, but because their mums ignored the well known guidance on not using it to check on the health of baby.

I'd be supportive of making that guidance even more well known.

How does using it at 12w for example have any impact? It's not like you could be counting kicks or going in for a trace? And if there was something wrong with the baby at that stage, its usually a matter of waiting...

Ive had one in all 3 pregnancies i used them from about 9 weeks, they are great when you can tell the difference between the noises you hear, i always felt reassured using mine and my kids have loved listening to babies heartbeat this time, now that i feel movement i rarely use it, when i was in the early day i used to make sure i had a pillow under my bum laying flat and searched really really low down. Alot of people do hate them and i fully understand why but mine was great for my mental health. Its not the same for everyone.

I was tempted to buy one after a stillbirth. Glad i didn't because second pregnancy ended in emergency section due to silent abruption - there was still a heartbeat but the midwives were looking at all the other signals to identify all was not well. If I'd been at home reassuring myself that i could hear a heartbeat, I'd have had a second stillbirth.

Please, please do not use this as a way of reassuring yourself.

In my opinion I wouldn't.

My first I had an anterior placenta, the midwife sometimes struggled so there was no way I'd find it.

Towards the later stages of pregnancy you can feel the movements anyway.

I wouldn't say I 'bonded' with the baby during pregnancy and I don't think you necessarily need to until once they're out.

Most of the comments I've read advocating their use seem to have had pretty straightforward pregnancies.
The problem seems to arise when there is actually something wrong and you are lulled into a false sense of security thinking you are sitting there listening to a healthy heartbeat instead of going to get medical attention.