Over-the-counter fetal Dopplers can't always pick up what you're looking for even if you try them later in your pregnancy. Baby's position or a bad angle on the device can easily throw off a home fetal Doppler. Or you may pick up the sound of blood flowing through the placenta and mistake it for a heartbeat.
The risk of using fetal Dopplers at home is not in the technology. The risk is in misinterpreting the fetal heart rate.”
Using an at-home Doppler is not a medical approach, and the device cannot reliably detect any health issues. Therefore, the best option is to refrain from using one and to ask a doctor or midwife about appropriate prenatal care. Pregnancy is a time of great vulnerability, as no one really knows how it will turn out.
It requires train- ing and skill to perform accurately. Over the past few years fetal heart monitors have been marketed to expectant parents who want to hear their baby's heartbeat. However, if not used properly these devices can provide false reassurance, as our recent case describes.
A fetal doppler uses soundwaves to listen to the fetal heartbeat. These soundwaves won't harm you or the baby. The main point is that an at-home fetal-doppler should not be used instead of a doctor's appointment. It's a tool to connect with your baby between appointments.
A comfortable spot to recline: Experts recommend laying flat when using the home fetal doppler. Make sure you're comfortable, as finding the heartbeat doesn't always happen immediately.
Most women now get an ultrasound before 12 weeks. A fetal Doppler test normally takes place during your second trimester (weeks 13 to 28 of pregnancy). Some manufacturers of at-home fetal Dopplers say you may be able to hear your baby's heartbeat as early as 8-12 weeks of pregnancy.
Abnormal Heart Rates
Changes in heart rates and slower movement patterns or no movement at all can indicate a fetus may be in fetal distress.
How is fetal distress diagnosed? Fetal distress is diagnosed by monitoring the baby's heart rate. A slow heart rate, or unusual patterns in the heart rate, may signal fetal distress. Your doctor or midwife might pick up signs of fetal distress as they listen to your baby's heart during pregnancy.
You don't need to press down hard with the doppler probe
Don't. It won't help at all, and it can actually make it more difficult to make the small changes in angle that can help you come upon the heartbeat. It is also likely to reduce the quality of the ultrasound gel transmission and cause wastage of the gel.
Commonly Misinterpretted Sounds
Be cognizant of how hard you are pressing down. Likely Causes: This “whooshing” sound is blood flow in the placenta, which is perfectly normal! Solution: Reposition the monitor to capture the fetal heart rhythm instead. Likely Causes: The fetus has “kicked” or “punched” the doppler.
If you're trying to use your fetal doppler without gel, you may try some coconut oil. Although it's not a widely used alternative, one trial found that it worked just as well as standard gel as a coupling medium in therapeutic ultrasound (a treatment often used in physical therapy).
The two different sounds that you hear on the Doppler most likely are your baby's heartbeat and your heartbeat, which is about half as fast as your baby's. The sounds you hear will vary depending on where the doctor places the Doppler monitor.
Dopplers can detect the whooshing sounds of a mother's own pulse or blood flow; only a trained healthcare provider knows how to accurately distinguish the differences between a heartbeat and other sounds.
Fetal distress was defined as a heart rate greater than 160 or less than 120/min between uterine contractions, with or without meconium-stained liquor. Infants of 28 to 42 weeks' gestational age were examined at 1 and 5 minutes after birth when the heart rate, respiration, and skin colour was recorded.
You may be experiencing signs of fetal distress if you or your doctor notes that: Your baby has a decreased heart rate. Your baby has a different (on nonexistent) pattern of fetal movement after week 28.
Fetal movements in utero are an expression of fetal well-being. However, a sudden increase of fetal movements is a sign of acute fetal distress, such as in cases of cord complications or abruptio placentae.
Normal FHR pattern: baseline FHR of 120-160 beats/min for a term fetus [3] Abnormal FHR pattern: baseline FHR < 120 or >160. Bradycardia: baseline FHR < 120. Tachycardia: baseline FHR > 160.
To use the monitor, you'll start by feeling your abdomen to find your baby's position. Place a small amount of gel (Doppler gel only) on the probe at the end of the monitor. Then put the probe on your lower abdomen, near your pubic bone.
When a woman is pregnant, the amount of blood circulating in her body increases significantly. This can make a pulse in the lower abdominal aorta more apparent. Sometimes this pulse can be misidentified as the baby's heartbeat.