Is it safe to use a Fetal Doppler at home?
Fetal Dopplers are relatively inexpensive and sound like a good idea to pregnant mothers who want some peace of mind in between appointments, but they can actually do the opposite, and cause more harm than good. Even trained nurses and doctors have to sometimes try for minutes before finding a fetal heart rate with a Doppler. And if you're doing this at home, it can cause great alarm and anxiety. In addition, and untrained person doesn't know what a normal fetal heart rate is, and so if they find the mother's heart rate (which is going to be slower than the fetal heart rate), they might freak out and be really upset, and in reality, it could just be normal and they never found the baby's heart rate. Or someone might find the fetal heart rate, and it would be slower, and they would interpret that as the mother's heart rate (if they knew about that), and ignore a problem if there was one.
So really, it's best to just call your doctor if you're concerned in between appointments. Let them know about why your concerned, and they'll bring you into the office, and a trained person (either a doctor or a nurse) can try to find the heart rate. And based on what they find, they'll be able to interpret the results, and determine if everything is fine, and you can be reassured, or if further investigation and monitoring is warranted. If you have more questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at / intermountainmoms , and recommend us to your friends and family too.