Warning - fetal heart rate monitoring at home danger

[mears]

I have always been against the idea of women listening into their baby's heart beat at home.

fetal heart rate monitor warning

I agree wholeheartedly, mears. more from teh POV that women give themselves unecessary heartache trying to find the HB too early but absolutely agree with the article

it is true is it is just a snapshot of what is going on in the uterus, and unless you know for sure you are listening to the foetal heart and know how to interpret what you hear, it is useless

i appreciate some women, particularly with a history of miscarriage or other complications might well find it reassuring, but i think the negatives outweigh the positives

I have a doppler, (21 weeks with dc4), i know what i'm hearing, and would always report any changes to MW immediately; regardless of hearing hb or not.

I can see that some women wouldn't report though, and thinking that a hb is enough, when its not.

Scorps - what changes would you be looking for out of interest?

changes i would report regardless of hearing a hb would include change or lack of fetal movements, and odd discharge/any bleeding, my personal feelings (faintness, spots in eyes etc)

The doppler would never reassure me nothing was wrong, iyswim. I would always get checked - The MW is my MW for a reason.

TBH, i hired it because i miscarried only 6 weeks before this pregnancy and was terrified. I don't listen in any more, i feel her movements and rely on that now.

I see. That is a sensible approach. I thought you meant changes in the heart rate.

I have a heart listening monitor. Me and DH bought it on the understanding that it was to be used for fun only, getting the kids involved, listening to their hb etc..

We agreed that we used it only when I had tons of movement that day, and not to be used if I was worried about anything. My MW is against them as well.

Oh goodness no, i just know when i hear her heart it sounds all gallopy and fast; placenta is whooshy. If i thought i heard anything odd(slow, fast, irregular - even if i was wrong) i would get checked.

bumped for evening crowd

I am totally totally against them for a whole number of reasons. I really think they should be banned until more research is done into uneducated individuals using them at home.

Like Scorps, I have one but I would always have reported a genuine concern anyway. I also had a history of mcs, and I got the monitor really for that period between being able to hear the heartbeat and the point where you would expect to feel lots of movement everyday. There is a point when it's normal to go whole days with very little movement (particularly if you have an anterior placenta) and the hb at that stage is more relevant than a day of limited movement. If I had a genuine concern, hearing the heartbeat would never have stopped me reporting it to the mw. And I no longer use it really now that I am in the later stages. In fact the only times we have used it in the last few weeks were because my daughter was asking to listen to it. Like anything, it needs to be used with common sense.