Fetal Doplers are they any good?

[Yvonne]

I was hoping to buy one this weekend but i dont want to get one if it is hard to detect the babies heartbeat or they are not sensitive enough.

It would make me worry more if i couldn't hear the heartbeat- i would be on the phone to my midwife everyday!!!

Are they worth buying?

 

[beanie]

I haven't used one so probably not the best person to ask but from what I have heard the really good ones cost a lot of money about £150, but the cheaper ones don't always pick up the heartbeat . You can hire the really good ones for a good price and there has been a thread about this in the second tri board. I wasn't allowed to get one as I would not use it probably, not hear the heartbeat and panic so OH banned me!!!!

 

[Rachael]

Hiya

I bought a doppler very early on and it's been fantastically reassuring for me. I havn't used it much in the last few months though because I feel the baby move all the time.

I have one with a digital LCD display so you know exactly when you are picking up baby's heartbeat. I could detect the h/b from 10wks, but it wasn't until I was 13wks+ that it was easy to find.....so unless you can be patient and not panic when you can't locate the little bugger (Ours used to move away from it very early on, as if it didn't like it) steer clear until after the 16wk mark.

I got mine from Dopplermike on Ebay - He sells them brand new with the gel & battery. You can use them from 9wks.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20436&item=8305968865&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

If you do decide to go ahead, I can give you some info on how best to find baby.

Hope this helps

 

[Yvonne]

Thanks Rachael

That all i needed to know.

i will need some advice on how to find baby, so if you dont mind when the time comes can i PM you?

 

[Rachael]

Of course you can - PM me anytime!

I think what surprised me the most when first using my doppler was how low down you find baby - Like practically in your "Lady Garden" I was like, no way should it be so low, it's gonna drop out! But it turns out, in such early pregnancy thats totally normal!

Chat to you soon

 

[Yvonne]

LADY GARDEN!!!!

Love it!! Lol

Never heard that one before.

i've also been told that you can pick up your heartbeat aswell, which is going to be confusing!!

Thanks again and you will hear from me soon

 

[Rachael]

Hee hee

Yes, you pick up your heartbeat a lot - But its a totally different sound to baby's as our heartbeat is a lot slower. Baby's will be anything between 120-160, whereas mine is around 65 - Depending on what I've been up to, of course!

Let me know when/if you get one and I will send you some extra info....You'll soon find your feet with it though and be your own little "Midwife" in no time.

 

[Layla]

I rented mine from mybump.com

I picked up the heartbeat at 10 weeks, which is eariler than the midwifes one.

i pay £25 a month, you can give it back at any time, or after 7 months its yours

 

[sarahking]

Hi Amys mum!

I bought mine for around £65 off internet (cant remember which site but ask good old Jeeves!) i can honestly say it has been the best thing i have ever bought in my life and well worth the money! Im not sure if i can feel my baby move yet so its nice to use on an evening before bed to hear the little tinker and it totally puts my mind at rest! I havent had proper scan or anything yet so its been a god send to me! Think i bought mine when i was about 13weeks. It was difficult at first and all i could hear was my heart but if you lock yourself away somewhere nice and quiet and relax you should have no trouble finding it. mine came with gel too and ive used it all up but good thing is you can just oreder more gel for about 3quid i think.

All in all id say its well worth investing in one girl!

Sarah x

 

[Rosieroo]

I've been hiring one for two months from www.mybump.com

Well worth the monthly charge and mine will be going back after my holiday. It's really good to be able to have a tune into the baby. One thing I did learn though at my 16 week midwife appointment is that the heartbeat we were picking up the majority of the time was the placenta's, and not the baby's. Obviously the placenta wouldn't beat if they baby's wasn't, but it made us realise it wasn't as easy to find as we'd thought The baby's is much more clippity, like a horse. The placenta was quite high pitched.

 

[Kim]

The placenta has a heart beat?

 

[michelle82]

Your placenta pulses and is a bit of a whooshing sound, you can also pick up the pulse of the umbilical cord. i always use my doppler even now I can feel the baby kicking v,reassuring and I plan on keeping it as we will no doubt have another one and I know people that are TTC so they can borrow it. The babys heartbeat to us sounds like a galloping horse.

 

[Rosieroo]

you can also pick up the pulse of the umbilical cord

Maybe that's what it was. It definately wasn't the baby (now we know what were looking to hear we can easily distinguish). It is just like a galloping horse