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Original poster

any doppler experts out there?

23 replies

RachelG · 14/10/2008 22:46

I've borrowed a doppler from a friend, and it's great to be able to listen to my baby's heartbeat. I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant. But now I seem to be obsessing a bit!

My baby's heart-rate has always been about 165 (ever since I first heard it 10 days ago). This evening it was averaging about 155.

I know that heart-rate varies from baby to baby, but does it vary in the same baby at this early stage? I'm now paranoid that my baby's heart-rate is slowing down and this could mean bad news.

Anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks

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PhantomOfTheChocolateCake · 14/10/2008 22:48

It normally depends how active the baby is (I think). It will be slightly lower if it's asleep as it's not moving.

liahgen · 14/10/2008 22:51

normal fetal heart rate is between 120-160 ish

WorzselMummage · 15/10/2008 09:15

When i first found my babys HB at 10 weeks it was 179bpm, its gradually slowed down over the last 7 weeks and is now averaging about 150. They are very fast early on and its very normal for them to slow down as time goes on

moopymoo · 15/10/2008 09:17

step away from the doppler....imo they are a bad idea, it is easy to send yourself nuts with them. half the time you will probably be picking up the cord pulsing anyway.

WorzselMummage · 15/10/2008 09:25

Its quite easy to tell the difference really, if your have an ounce of common sense.

MinkyBorage · 15/10/2008 09:29

put the doppler down

liahgen · 15/10/2008 09:35

Worzel. Bit harsh maybe?

WorzselMummage · 15/10/2008 09:45

Well not really, It really isnt hard to tell the difference between the placenta/cord/baby/your HB.

I think its a bit patronising to say things like 'half the time you will be picking up the cord pulsing' How on earth could moopy know that ?

And IMO they are wonderfull, after several miscarriages it is the only thing thats made this pregnancy barable for me.. I get pissed off with reading people putting them down as if users are silly neurotic idiots who should be able to manage without them ( because the superiour poster can.. obviously )

People who use dopplers do so for a reason.

liahgen · 15/10/2008 09:58

worzel,
that makes more sense now i realise where you are coming from.

I apologise, I thought you wre speaking to Op when you said about the common sense.

I agree dopplers have their place, but as a new user, (op not me), it could be easy to get mixed up with the sounds until you get the hang of it.

When is your baby due?

WorzselMummage · 15/10/2008 10:03

No i wasnt speaking to the OP :D

If your struggling with telling the differenc with your Doppler have a look on YouTube there are loads of videos on there which tell what all the sounds are. Its quite good fun having a roam around listening to it all

Babys due March 27th

liahgen · 15/10/2008 10:05

Lovely, baby's are great, {very broody emoticon}

Good luck

WorzselMummage · 15/10/2008 10:06

Thanks

sorry we got a bix mixed up

Millie26 · 15/10/2008 10:06

I used a doppler from 11 wks and find it really reassuring although dont use it much as not sure how safe it is.

Anyway, I found the heartbeat changed speed a bit and I'm 18 wks now. 10 beats difference is really small and totally normal.

I agree that is really easy to distinguish between yours and their heartbeat too - once you've found it once that is, can be all terribly worrying and strange the first time!

moopymoo · 15/10/2008 10:48

hmm i guess we all have different experiences and i have to say that mine was not good- vastly increased anxiety. and this wasnt because of a lack of common sense (thanks worzsel) was more due to position of baby making hb very very hard to find (resulting in trips to a and e, midwifes often struggling themselves to find hb all very horrid)the op did say she felt she was obsessing and it was to this that i was responding.

Original poster
RachelG · 15/10/2008 21:06

Thanks everyone. The heartbeat seemed to have speeded back up a bit today, so it was probably just a transient thing. I'm a big doppler fan I must say. Having had IVF and a missed miscarriage, I'm about as paranoid as it's possible to be. I'm lucky that I have a son already, and I relied on my doppler in that pregnancy to maintain my sanity.

You're right, it can be tricky when you first start to pick out the right sounds, but I'm an old hand now!

OP posts:
GYo · 16/10/2008 12:54

Rachel- Can you just listen without seeing the speed count? might be less worrying. Glad you are getting some comfort from it.

Mine doesnt have display on it so I could work out the speed but it would drive me nuts so I just listen. Never fail to find a HB every time and its nice. Kind of reminds me whats inside...

PS when i said I was excited that my doppler arrived - so many people rudely said- "dont use it" or "thats extra worry" - only because they couldnt find the HB or had issues themselves. We all make a choice to find things out for ourselves etc!

Its quite frankly no one elses business but yours!

mrsboogie · 16/10/2008 16:04

I had a missed mc too and used a doppler in this pregnancy for reasurance but we only used it a few times for e.g. if I was worried that I hadn't felt the baby move for quite a while. I was told by a midwife that the baby can hear the soundwaves bouncing into the uterus and they don't like it (which is why they often move quickly away from the area where the probe is applied). I have also read that a doppler sounds to a baby a bit like a helicopter hovering over your house would sound to you.

Probably a bit annoying to have to hear it every day...

twentynine · 16/10/2008 16:07

Rachel - do not assume because you are not a first timer that things will be less stressful, or that you should expect any more from yourself than you did last time. In fact you know all the things that can go wrong and you are more knackered from the existing DC so it's worse. Be easy on yourself!

But unless the doppler shows no heartbeat (and in which case it's more likely to be battery or operator error than anything) you don't have to worry about speed.

kazbeth · 16/10/2008 17:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

needmorecoffee · 16/10/2008 17:09

are dopplers like ultrasound? I thought too much ultrasound was now found to be a bad thing?

firstontheway · 17/10/2008 13:35

I've had a doppler since 10 weeks... I'm now 19 weeks and up to now have never found the HB! But I hear the woosh from the placenta which makes me feel everthings okay

ranirani · 17/10/2008 15:21

I had no idea that cord or placenta can pulsate!! God knows, what I had been listening to! in my case i had to listen on full bladder otherwise it is difficult to find it, and if i had anything that beats more than mine and around 140 p/m I was reassured everything is fine. Now baby is moving (I am 23 weeks PG today) and there is no need for doppler.

Mintpurple · 17/10/2008 18:14

The baby, cord and placenta are all (obviously) attached and the sound you hear from the cord or placenta is just babys heart pumping blood from the baby to the placenta, where it is nourished and oxygenated and then it returns to the baby.

So if you hear the cord pulsing, (sounds like a whoosh as opposed to a beat from babys heart), you are still hearing babys heart rate.

Babys hearing starts from about 16 weeks or so, but ultrasound / doppler is so high frequency that its unlikely that baby will hear anything other than the sound of it rubbing on your tummy. Certainly not like a helicopter. Your m/w actually needs to think about the logic of that for a minute!

firstontheway
At 19 weeks, often the bast place (at anything

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