Quiet heartbeat on fetal doppler?

[milaboo]

I'm 11+3 and recently got a doppler. I'm not too worried and just thankful that I can hear it at all, but I'm curious as to why it's so quiet? Baby is still positioned very low down (just slightly above my pelvic bone) it's so quiet that I can only hear it when I have the earphones plugged in. It takes me a a minute or two to find it, and have to really listen to be able to hear it. Is this normal at this stage?

Hi @milaboo are you in the UK? Here, they are very much frowned upon and your midwife / GP would always advise against getting one. If you have had difficult previous pregnancies please ask them for advice on how to manage anxiety - a Doppler is not the way forward.

I’m sorry to give tough love but you really should Chuck the Doppler away. They are dangerous and give you a false sense of what is happening with your baby. The answer to your question is “yes” you should be able to hear a heartbeat by now, but only a trained professional knows that they’re listening out for.

There are so many problems with Doppler. Firstly, it’s easy to get the baby’s and mother’s heartbeat mixed up. A trained professional knows what to look for. There could also be times whe. You can’t “find” the heartbeat and naturally think the worse but again this could simply be because you don’t know what you’re looking for.

Also, a heartbeat does NOT mean a healthy baby. Someone could be lying in the street having collapsed, but still have a heartbeat.

Dopplers can give a false sense of what’s going on (both ways).

You don’t have long until your scan, and the heartbeat will be checked at all your appointments.

If you are ever concerned about movements, you should go to the hospital, this is the only way to know your baby is well.

If you have had problems in previous pregnancies and have got the Doppler to help you, I would talk this through with your midwife to see what else you can do to help you through this pregnancy.

If you are not in the UK... well.. I know in USA these are popular but we advised well against in UK

I totally agree with the previous post. These devices should never be for general sale.

Put it in the bin.

Well I use a Doppler so I'm going to be the black sheep here but I am a nurse so I've been trained in their use. If you don't have training then I don't think it is a good idea to use it OP. Or at the very least use it only for causal 'fun' use as opposed to reassurance purposes. I got mine so the older children could listen to their sibling. But 11 weeks is extremely early to be expecting a successful heartbeat, even in a clinic setting 16weeks might not reveal a good heart beat. They are incredibly small and tucked low inside the pelvis still and they can shift out of Doppler access easily. If you were concerned about the pregnancy for any reason, pain bleeding etc, then you need to contact your medical team.

Is the sound on max? It may also just be that you have a quiet doppler.

I also found it easier to find heartbeat using headphones early on. Good luck.

I’m going to tell you a true story of a friend of mine from school in hopes if your not a trained midwife or nurse you will get rid of your Doppler straight away she was 24 and she decided to by a Doppler after her 20 weeks scan the baby was healthy enough on the 20 week scan she got the Doppler because she had never felt the baby move before she told they midwife that she hadn’t felt the baby yet and the girl asked if she should get a Doppler the midwife explained That it could be up to 24 weeks before the baby is felt moving and not to get a Doppler she went ahead and got it the midwife told her if she hadn’t felt the baby move by 24 they would rescan her ( she wasn’t due another scan till 28 weeks) but instead she used the Doppler every night before bed assume she could hear the heart beat she never contacted the midwife until the midwife contacted her at 26 weeks saying she hadn’t heard from her and assumed all was fine ? The girl told the midwife what she had been doing that she could hear baby’s heart beat but still feel no movement the mid wife booked her in for a scan the follow day and she got the complete devastating news that her baby had passed away she was simply hearing the fluid in her stomach swishing around she had no idea what she was looking for when she had been using the Doppler and assume that noise was the baby’s heart beat I no way does anyone think the mum could of done anything to stop the passing of her baby but she has to live with that every day and she struggles thinking she could of saved her child by just going for an earlier scan when I fell pregnant she begged me not to get a Doppler.

And I’m very confused at what you think your hearing because even a trained midwife would find it extremely hard to find a baby’s heart beat on a Doppler at 11/12 weeks

I reckon if you told your midwife you were using a Doppler at home untrained she would give you a stern talking to about it

Throw the Doppler away. They should be banned for general sale. I once commented on an advert selling them on Instagram saying they were dangerous and they deleted my comment. You don’t know what you’re looking for, and whilst a heart beat exists at 11+2, you don’t know what you’re listening out for - that story from another poster is devestating. You could be picking up your own heartbeat.

Just because you think you can hear something doesn’t mean all is well. If you walked past a man in the street who had collapsed but had a heartbeat you wouldn’t walk off and think “oh he’s ok”. Same with your baby.

I have family in the US and these are more “popular” there - mainly because healthcare is so expensive and buying one means less trips to the hospital. If you are in US and this is the “norm” for you over there I’m sorry to scare you

Even midwives can have trouble finding babys heartbeat at this early stage of pregnancy. There is quite a bit of tissue to get the signals through.
I have one, I got it when pregnant with our 2nd following 2 mc's. It is nice to listen 8n but you must always contact the midwife if you are worried and not presume all is ok if you hear a hb with your own doppler. When we had our twins the midwives/consultants didn't trust dopplers, they always did ultrasounds to check the hearts.

Oh ffs why do people still buy these damn things. Throw it away. False reassurance that could lead you to miss a real problem

It's really early, midwives don't even try to listen in at this stage. If it's wooshy then you're probably hearing the placenta, the heartbeat is a harder sound. Might just be the volume..?

Would reiterate all of the above - they should never be used for reassurance. If you're ever concerned then contact your midwife.

We used one so I'm not against them, but they should really only be as a sort of novelty thing - we let the family (dog and all😂) have a listen.

It's highly highly unlikely that what you're hearing is the babies heartbeat, it's far more likely to be your own or the blood pulsing through the umbilical cord. This post just highlights the stupidity of using one.
Please do yourself a favour and put it in the bin where it belongs. It will only cause you either false reassurance or anxiety in the long run.

@milaboo
your post is the very reason these things should not be used! You have asked 'is the normal'- Why are you asking on a public forum? Please adhere to the previous advice and bin it. As you have demonstrated, there is no way of knowing if what you are hearing is normal as you haven't been trained to know.

Put it in the bin!!