Does doppler work

[Hollytrees1]

Does a doppler or stethoscope work go hear baby heartbeat

Neither should be used to assume all is OK with your baby...

Midwives don't advise home dopplers as you will likely just hear your own heartbeat. It's false worry when you can't do it properly and can also give false reassurance as you would hear your own heartbeat and not babies

A doppler will work to hear a baby's heartbeat but should only be used by a trained professional as it is easy to misinterpret the sound you are hearing.

And as PP said, it should never be used (unless by a trained professional) to check baby's wellbeing- any concerns call maternity triage to get checked.

my daughter's MIL hired one for her for the term of her pregnancy.. although most midwives don't agree with them, her midwife showed her how to use it and taught her what noise was what but with the strict proviso that this did not ensure babies health and safety and that she should still contact her midwife.

my daughter suffered horrific anxiety while pregnancy (just lost her dad to heart failure and daughter also suffers from the same so understandably worried).

as baby got bigger and she felt him move more she used the doppler less and i think she only used it once a week tops. and it really helped with anxiety even though i didn't agree with it.

Ok thanks everyone. Not much movement but anterior placenta so ubsure if that is why also can't walk on my left foot so feels like everything's going wrong at the moment

@Hollytrees1 How far along are you? I have anterior placenta. I'm 29 weeks now and movement is getting stronger. The placenta moves with time and you should start to feel the baby move more.

I'm 19 weeks. That sounds promising. I told the midwife as hi have a anterior will I feel less movement and she said as it's my third I should always have movement so made me feel even more anxious

Doppler isn't recommend for at home use as it can pick up your heartbeat or placenta you would have no idea what you were listening to.

I started feeling movement around 19/20 weeks this time but not very frequent and only slight. This is my 4th pregnancy (I have one son and had 2 losses).

Thank you so much I have my scan on Wednesday

They work when used by a trained professional, even then they can't always find heartbeat if baby is in an awkward position. Definitely don't use one at home. If you're concerned, get checked. I only felt minimal movement from about 22 weeks, and it's only regular and noticeable now at 33 weeks.