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Original poster

Doppler panic

4 replies

Ems2111 · 15/06/2021 15:54

Hello,

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant however at around 17 weeks I bought a home doppler and have been using it once a week (so three times) to find the heartbeat.

I would say on average it would take about 15-20mins for me to find the heartbeat and once I have found it I would listen for about 30-60 secs…

I had no idea of the risks to baby but I have since been reading and I am now extremely worried I might have damaged the baby :(

Has anyone had any experience with home Doppler and any thoughts about these devices? I’m so worried now 😰

Tia

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SillyBry · 15/06/2021 15:56

The risk of using a home doppler isn't too the baby... it's more because we aren't trained to know what to listen for, so you may pick your own heartbeat up and mistakenly think baby is fine, but it's your heartbeat... or not find the heartbeat and panic that everything is not ok, when baby is just behind the placenta or something, if that makes sense?

Ozanj · 15/06/2021 15:58

The biggest risk is you being falsely reassured by the doppler when baby has in fact died or seriously unwell. Prob best to put it away and just monitor kicks.

anniebu · 15/06/2021 16:13

I used a doppler from 9 to 17 weeks (when I could detect movement) It helped me mentally tremendously. It took some learning finding fetal heartbeat (YouTube videos helped) and differentiating it from my own pulse. This is just sounwaves, it does not harm the fetus. You will soon start feeling movements anyway and that's how you gauge how well your baby is doing at that stage. Good luck

IloveGod2 · 15/06/2021 16:25

@Ems2111 hiya. Was thinking of buying but changed my mind after the reviews and research. I found on a medic site that using the scan more than once a week can cause the cells to bubble which is dangerous. Also its argued against due to the fact that one is not trained and they can be picking up their heart beat or blood flow and not babies. Or you cant find it which may cause more stress and panic. Apparently some people have had still birth cos they thought they heard the heart beat but it was actually the baby's. I would just leave the scan to the professionals.

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