At home dopplers, good or bad?

[BellaRosex]

Thinking of getting one. Do they cause you more anxiety or give you more reassurance?

Any recommendations?

Depending on NHS Trust, I know a lot of community midwives don’t even use them anymore because they can be so hit and miss. At my later appointments in my third pregnancy, my midwife listened in with an old-school pinard!!

I’d never have bought one to use at home when I was pregnant because I’d have been a nervous wreck.

Are you a trained Sonographer? If not, don’t risk it. How will you tell your own heart beat from the babies? I work in obstetrics, we see hundreds of women who can’t believe their pregnancy isn’t viable etc because they believe they’ve heard the babies heartbeat, when actually it was their own.

https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/media/documents/KICKS-COUNT-FLYER--A5--DOPPLER-2PP-A5-FINAL.pdf

Bad my friend wasn't getting much movement came to use mine I was out fortunately she went to the Dr's baby was in distress long story short baby is now disabled had they messed about with a doppler they might have lost baby altogether

Please never use a Doppler at home if you have any concerns at all about your baby’s movements. A few minutes listening to a Doppler is not enough to give a whole picture of your baby’s well being .

Absolutely not - unless you are a trained Sonographer you have no idea what your listening too - people say oh it should sound like this or that but if your using one to "reassure" yourself that everything is ok, how can you tell what you're listening too? You might think oh ive not felt baby move for a few hours ill have a listen on the doppler and hear something that you think is the baby and then not go to get it checked out and then you end up losing the baby.
I cant believe in all honesty that they are even available to the public to buy!

They're not recommended at all as per pp reasons.

How far along are you? I struggled with a lot of anxiety up until 12 weeks but I felt it start to ease, especially once I started to feel the babies move.

You need to go in straight away if you have any concerns, hearing a heartbeat doesn’t tell you that everything is fine.

I wouldn't (and haven't), a few reasons:

1. I've had lots of midwives struggle to find baby's heartbeat and they're trained to do it
2. I have an anterior placenta and that could be mistaken for a healthy heartbeat
3. I could struggle to find a heartbeat and panic even when there's nothing wrong
4. If you have a reason to worry about pregnancy then you should just go in - they'll check you over properly
5. If you're not having movements yet, you might end up relying too much on a Doppler (and if the Doppler says everything is fine, you might miss other signs something isn't right).

Another vote for no. Lots of reasons already given.

I had one and it was brilliant. I loved hearing the heartbeat every day. You get tp learn the difference between the baby's heartbeat and your own.

I had one with my twins….but I do know how to differentiate between my own heartbeat and that of a baby(ies). Even trained midwives find it hard to use them accurately - I had to find the heartbeats myself with the midwives Doppler st appointments and at hospital with the Redman Dawes machine they weren’t much better at accurately finding both and I’d have to do it for them

Do not get one unless you are trained in using them! I know how to use dopplers and know the many sounds they can pick up, but I can distinguish what each sound is. I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant and have got one which I also used in my previous pregnancy, but I never use it to diagnose I just like to check in on baby when I can. If I ever think anything’s up I don’t even bother with the doppler and go straight to my maternity unit x

Absolutely don't get one.

It’s brilliant and lots of really overly dramatic responses
it’s a cultural thing and in the USA they are used at home.
it has massively helped with my anxiety throughout my pregnancy.
i understand that baby movements and their patterns are very important so if that’s fine having a Doppler is a nice addition

The last thing you want to do is mistakenly reassure yourself when you might need to be checked, don't get one

Ditch the Doppler.

https://images.app.goo.gl/kEXzJWR7bpShQo5K9