Has anyone used at home dopplers?

[jamie01x]

Hi just wondering if anyone has used the at home dopplers you can buy online and which one they would recommend to buy? Are they worth it? Currently 7 weeks pregnant so I wouldn't use it for a few weeks but would be nice to have there to use. Have had 2 miscarriages before so I feel like it would really help ease my worrying. Thank you!

[Hidden]

I bought one off Amazon, it's called Edan SD1 Doppler, it's really good and have used it everyday since about 10 weeks. I had a missed misscarriage a few years back and I was so scared of something happening so it's really helped my anxiety... You'll get people saying don't use one as you might mistake your heartbeat for babies etc but in my experience I've learnt what my baby's heartbeat sounds like as it's quite clear and can differentiate between the other sounds you can hear xxxxx

[jamie01x in reply to Hidden]

Thank you,yeah a few people on a FB page have told me not too as I could mistake heartbeat for mine etc. But like you said I'm hoping I can learn the difference in the both over time. Someone also said not to use untill after 12weeks because of the increased risk of miscarriage so not sure if I will use it before then,I will have to do some research xx

[Hidden in reply to jamie01x]

The Doppler won't cause a misscarriage, general misscarriage risks are higher in the first 12 weeks anyways .... And your heart beat will be much lower than your babies, mine is like 70 and my babies 150/160 its more the placentas blood flow xxxx

[jamie01x in reply to Hidden]

Thanks hun. Oh really? Yeah I know they are higher risk in first 12 weeks but someone said dopplers increase the chances xx

[emmab178]

I used an angelsounds one. Was probably listening to my own heartbeat mostly but it reduced my anxiety so did the job. Don't trust them later in pregnancy and instead rely on movements.

[jamie01x in reply to emmab178]

Thank you! I'm only early so it's just to put my mind at ease for a while x

[emmab178 in reply to jamie01x]

Exactly why i got mine. The issue is with not using them at the times when you are under a midwife however you dont get midwife care till later on in pregnancy.

I get the comments of other people saying not to, but it's a personal choice.

There were times i didn't find the heartbeat but I'm an educated person and know the risk of the technology. I didn't panic i just tried again later on.

I didn't use it after i started feeling movement but that took till 25 weeks just the initial weeks to reduce anxiety. I also had 3 private scans again to reduce anxiety. The Doppler was significantly cheaper than the scans!

[jamie01x in reply to emmab178]

I had an early scan with the nhs at 5and a half weeks but I'm still constantly worrying. I don't have another scan until 12 weeks but I dont know if I would even use it until after then anyway. I have an appointment with my midwife soon anyway so I'm definitely going to speak to her about it. Thanks for your help x

[Smallfoot]

Hey Jamie... I hope this isn’t intrusive of me. I am the same pregnant as you. I have also miscarried. I also want little clues of reassurance. I am also a doctor. I have been in a more than one delivery before where I saw the very experienced midwife mixup the heartbeat of the baby and the mum. I must admit to not having loads of experience of dopplers at home (Although obviously used to that sort of thing in healthcare). Often I see people buy things to reasurre themselves... from sats monitors to nebulisers to apnoea mats. But technology is only so good. As a person I would much rather go on my gut instinct and listen to my body. I think some technologies really falsely reasure (or falsely worry). It is obviously very personal. But I would be tempted to tell you to save your cash and learn to listen to your body. Sadly for both of us (And because of our past experiences) there is nothing that would happen if we were unlucky enough to lose these babies too, until probably 24 weeks. I know that for me pregnancy can make me a nervous wreck. The idea of trying to monitor the heart rate for all that times makes me feel stressed just at the thought of it. Why don’t you have a chat with your midwife about it? You could also ask to chat to the berevement midwife. Anyone who has been through loss will be understandably anxious so I think your feelings are totally understandable. And mine. I suppose O have just seen a lot of people become obsessed with different bits of technologies. Whereas if they had just trusted their gut feelings it would have served them better. (And made for a calmer journey).

[jamie01x in reply to Smallfoot]

Thank you,I'm definitely going to have a think about it all and speak to my midwife about it x

[Hidden]

I haven't used one but have read that they are not reliable. Can send you unnecessarily into a panic or false sense of security. With so many things to worry about already, I decided not to xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I agree wholeheartedly with Camillage. I decided against a Doppler as I don’t have the experience or skills of a midwife to know what I am doing!!!Personally I would advise additional scans either via nhs or privately to help reassure you. ❤️ xoxo

[laurafig]

I agree with the latter comments.... my sister in law mentioned them to me and how people are reported going in to panics when they can’t hear the heartbeat. I didn’t know there were such things but I decided to not bother with them on her advice.

When I went for the midwife appointment at 16 weeks, she listened to the heartbeat and it still took her a while to locate it. I wouldn’t feel I had the skills as midwifes do to find it.

What would you do, or how would you feel if you couldn’t find or hear the heart beat? Would that still reassure you? Or would it give you more anxiety?

[Emilylouise-]

Hi I have a at home Doppler sonoline b it was a comfort to have it especially until you feel movements I used mine in this pregnancy at 8 weeks it's my 5 th baby

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

Nhs doesn’t recommend it so I didn’t, despite having two previous miscarriages. My midwife encouraged me to remember that symptoms such as tiredness are all good indicators you are still pregnant. At the end of the day, there’s nothing to say that hearing a heartbeat will stop you miscarrying, so I decided against it.

[Hannah27]

I personally wouldn't get one.

I had a miscarriage with myast pregnancy and was anxious with my current pregnancy until 26 weeks or so... But please don't get a dopler. There's a woman campaigning to stop the sale of them for home use as she used one as reassurance and ended up having a still born as she relied so heavily on the dopler and not monitoring other signs. Please be careful, sorry I know this isn't a very nice thing to post and we get so much judgement as it is on what's right and wrong so hope I'm not adding to that xx

[E_05]

I totally understand your anxiety, I’ve had 2 mmc and am currently pregnant after my 5th cycle of IVF however no matter how much I’ve needed re assurance I wouldn’t look for a home Doppler to do that.

Most Midwife’s won’t even listen in until after 16 weeks and their trained to use them. For me I felt that if I couldn’t find the heartbeat it would cause me more anxiety also later on in pregnancy you need to learn baby’s movements and if something is wrong seek medical advice not rely on just hearing the heartbeat. Maybe you could speak to your hospital about having a few extra scans or book some privately for re assurance x

[jamie01x in reply to E_05]

Yeah I understand you rely on movement further on in pregnancy but I feel like it would really help my anxiety right now. I'm constantly worrying something is wrong. I had a scan a around 5 weeks and have another end of March but I'm definitely going to book extra private scans before 20 weeks as I will be so anxious having to wait 8 weeks for a scan. Thanks for your help x

[E_05 in reply to jamie01x]

I totally understand that, anxiety is the worst especially after previous losses. I’m still terrified now and I’m 30 weeks on Saturday, it’s personal choice I guess but for me I felt a home Doppler would add to my anxiety.

I guess you have to ask yourself if you get one and can’t find the heartbeat are you going to be about to rationalize that it potentially could just be to early and not panic the worst has happened again. I hope the extra scans help and you make the decision that helps you x

[jamie01x in reply to E_05]

Yes definitely. I'm not really tsure how I would react to be honest,if I bought one now and I couldn't find a heartbeat I would totally understand it's too early but not sure how I would react if I was further on. I'm definitely going to have to have a good think about it and speak to my midwife or doctor. Thanks for your advice,I hope everything goes well in you're pregnancy xx

[Hidden]

I was bad and bought one at around 14 weeks. Who knows if I could actually hear the baby’s heartbeat but it just helped me relax as movement hadn’t started. I also had a previous miscarriage so was always anxious. I used it all the way through my pregnancy but never to check if baby was ok I would of phoned triage if I thought anything was up xx

[Cheekymonkey85]

If your ever anxious, don't use the Doppler, seek medical advice. Yes it's lovely to hear, but sometimes things like this can make anxiety worse so be careful.

Having said that, my other half works for the ambulance service & has his own stethoscope- we listened on that a few times (from 20weeks ish) but could only hear the heartbeat if baby was lying in certain positions 😊

[Purpledazzle27]

I found it really helpful for me. I suffer with anxiety anyway and it was incredibly bad when I got pregnant on first ivf attempt. Was convinced something would go wrong. Used it from about 10 weeks. I could tell the difference between my hb babies and the placenta which was more of a swooshing sound. I found it really reassuring but rarely used it once I could feel baby moving after 21 weeks. Totally up to you. There were a couple times it took me longer to find the heartbeat but kit just took some patience and moving it around slowly. For me it really helped me. I have friends who had anxiety that felt it would make them worry more so didn’t get one. Very personal choice.

[kirstyblue]

I personally wouldn’t get one. We are not trained to use it properly and would send me into an absolute state of panic if I couldn’t find the heartbeat. X

[romaluna2015]

Home Dopplers are not recommended. They can pick up your blood flow instead of babies . I personally wouldn’t use one . X