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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Angelsounds fetal doppler?

15 replies

catbus · 20/03/2010 21:51

Anyone had any experience in using one of these? Are they any good? Thinking about getting one to possibly reduce paranoia; am 15 wks now.

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LittleSilver · 20/03/2010 21:55

Just my opinion, but if you have concerns I really think you should be contacting your mw/labour ward immediately and not using a bit of kit you are not trained to use or interpret the sounds that you hear.

I really think they are very irresponsibly marketed.

llareggub · 20/03/2010 21:58

I think you'll be even more paranoid when you can't find the heartbeat. Even my MW struggled sometimes.

Try and find other ways of relaxing.

Original poster

catbus · 20/03/2010 21:59

I too think it could be irresponsible; I would just like some reassurance as have had a few probs in the past. MWs are not always so readily available. Given this is my 4th DC, I do know what I am hearing and where I am likely to find a HB! Not trained as such, just a fair amount of previous experience! Just thought it would be a nice thing to share..

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Original poster

catbus · 20/03/2010 22:01

Yes, I had thought about the fact the little bean could at times make it impossible to hear, due to positioning, therefore incurring unecessary paranoia! Just want to know people's experiences that have used these?

OP posts:

Pinner35 · 20/03/2010 22:01

I agree with LittleSilver's post........very often the heartbeat detected is your own.

barkfox · 20/03/2010 22:28

I bought one at around 10 weeks ( I'm 21 weeks now).

I do agree that if you use it as a 'home' piece of medical kit, then it's not really a good idea. If I had any pain/lack of movement/odd symptoms, I wouldn't rely on it to tell me anything.

But as a cheapish piece of kit that gives me a unique perspective on my 1st pregnancy, I really like it. My partner loves listening to it to.

I guess there's a danger in later pregnancy in confusing hearbeats (thinking your own is the baby's) - but early on, I don't see how anyone could mistake it. I can hear mine strolling along at around 68 bpm, and then the baby's galloping along at more than twice the speed.

It also moves around a fair bit too. Which I guess someone else might find frustrating, but before I could feel any movements, it gave me a sense of the baby as 'active', which I really liked.

So I'm glad I bought mine - but I bought it for fun and curiosity, not for anxiety/reassurance.

MumNWLondon · 20/03/2010 22:37

I have one.

You'd never get confused whether it was the baby or you as even in late pregnancy babies heart rate roughtly double yours. Sounds very different. I found it quite hard to find heartbeat early on though probably because of the anterior placenta.

It's for fun and not a substitute if for it your are worried, but I have anterior placenta and didn't feel anything to 28 weeks so quite liked using it.

Now 36 weeks and feel baby the whole time so don't use it as much but DH, DD and DS all really love it.

bsmirched · 21/03/2010 13:29

I agree with the last two posts. I'd had two MMC prior to this pregnancy, so there was no one more paranoid than me! As others have said, if you have real concerns, I'm sure you'd be sensible enough to get medical advice, but I first found the hb at 14 wks and have loved hearing it regularly.

It would be almost impossible to mistake your hb for baby's as baby's sounds like a galloping horse! If yours sounds like that, you definitely need to see a doctor asap!

If you do get one, do be prepared that at times you may not find the hb - this early on, baby has loads of room to hide - even at 20 wks my MW couldn't find it for ages! I found it easier with a very full bladder and I'd recommend the proper gel stuff, too.

One other fantastic thing about them is that the headphone socket also fits computer speaker sockets, so I could record the hb straight to my phone and was able to send it straight to my sister 200 miles away.

vix206 · 21/03/2010 20:45

I bought mine at 10 weeks and I am also so pleased that I did. The heartbeat is very obviously the baby's because it is so much faster than your own. As other posters have said, if you have medical concerns then you should seek medical help but I bought mine for reassurance and it has given me heaps of that! I am 19 weeks now and feeling movement but I still have a listen every week or so and find it an amazing experience every time.

musicposy · 21/03/2010 21:50

I don't have any direct knowledge and not sure what my opinion is (I can certainly relate to the feeling of needing reassurance)- but I did read this the other day and thought you might be interested.

Original poster

catbus · 21/03/2010 23:07

musicposy Thanks; very interesting..I suppose that realistically it's not reassurance I am looking for via one of these; maybe curiosity more! Since my OP, I have been thinking how even hearing a fetal HB on a cheapy thing wouldn't be reassurance enough for me anyway.
Must be the hormones and too much time on internet. In reality, I tend go with my instincts, which so far have proved right in detecting problems, including 2 previous MCs.
It's hard to relax after bad experiences, and I agree with one of the other posters that they are irresponsibly marketed. Thanks for everyone's input; I think I have seen you, musicposy, on the HE threads, which is where I plan to spend more of my time constructively!!

OP posts:

MumNWLondon · 22/03/2010 14:48

I just looked at that article... a bit contractory - ie people not contacting doctors enough because they could hear heartbeat vs people contacting doctors too much because they couldn't hear heartbeat on the monitor

I think the point is that the monitor is not a diagnostic device and that you should contact dr/midwife if you have any concerns - esp in late pregnancy - personally I think would be good for paranoia at 15 weeks - I mean you'd never be contacting a midwife at that point if you couldn't feel anything...

CurlyCasperReturns · 22/03/2010 15:27

I have one and it's simply good fun and a nice way to get the father involved. THere are sites where you can hear MP3s of all the different sounds you might hear from placenta blood flow to the actual HB, which, once you have heard it, is unmistakeable. But sometimes you won't find it - because of baby's positioning. The best thing we did was use a digital dictaphone, plugged into one of the earphone jacks using the cable provided, to take a recording of the HB and email it to the grandparents etc. Just another milestone like the scan pictures -
it went down very well.

I'm 22+ weeks now, and baby is moving frequently, so I haven't bothered to replace the battery so I can use it again, but might have a play at some point.

Handy to have between 10 and 20 weeks I think!

katiecubs · 22/03/2010 16:00

I wouldn't be without mine it's brilliant for that extra bit of reassurance you sometimes need.

I managed to find my babies heartbeat at 10 weeks which took a bit of work but as the baby grows it gets much easier - as some of the other posters have said there is no way you can confuse the babies heartbeat with your own as the babies is around double the pace!

SqueezyB · 22/03/2010 16:31

I had one with my first pregnancy - I found it reassuring to listen to her heartbeat as I was a real worry-wart, and there was no way of mistaking as my own, the baby's is twice as fast, sounds more like a gallop.

Once I started feeling her move regularly I stopped using it anyway. It's worth getting if you want the extra reassurance, and the resale value is pretty good on ebay!

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