For this reason, it is recommended that ultrasound exams be performed only for medical reasons by qualified health care professionals. However, it is possible that effects could be identified in the future. No links have been found between ultrasound and birth defects, childhood cancer, or developmental problems later in life. “ Currently, there is no evidence that ultrasound is harmful to a developing fetus. Women are using home dopplers daily, sometimes several times a day, for extensive periods of time, or whenever someone comes to visit they excitedly get out the doppler and say, “hey do you want to hear the baby?” so what effect is that having on their baby? We don’t know because not enough research has been done yet, and we may not see the effects until much later in the future but even governing bodies such as ACOG state: There are also concerns around the frequency of using ultrasound, and even with home dopplers your baby may be exposed to ultrasound waves, therefore this could have an effect on a developing baby because the duration and number of times the doppler is used is uncontrolled. The placenta also pulses at the same rate as the heart and the mother’s main artery runs across the abdomen along with many other vessels that can simulate the sound of a baby’s heart.” UK stillbirth organisation Kicks Count states: “These devices are sending ultrasound waves into your body that reflect off moving blood vessels and simulate sound. So it should be reserved for times of genuine medical benefit (and even then only with the mother’s informed consent, because some women don’t want it used at all) and certainly not used routinely or recreationally.” However, we don’t know enough about whether frequent use or overuse is harmful to babies. Researcher, speaker, midwife and author Dr Sara Wickham also raises concerns about ultrasounds in an article she wrote recently and states “Doppler ultrasound can be very useful when employed judiciously.
#Baby doppler app tv#
Women see all this technology used on them or in TV programs about birth and think this must be a good thing.”
Unfortunately health providers are modelling poor practice in this area by their own excessive use of technology that has little evidence to support it.
Dopplers should be in the same category as a medication, and you would not self-prescribe medication. Any significant changes in the baby’s movements need to be reported and followed up by a health provider. The best indication of a baby’s wellbeing is the movements and women are the experts of that. Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery and Researcher at the University of Western Sydney said “The increased use of hand held Dopplers by women at home is concerning as they can give false reassurance on the one hand and cause unnecessary anxiety on the other when you are not trained to know what to listen for. When something doesn’t feel right, women are reaching for the doppler, and they hear that swishing thumping sound and it gives them reassurance that everything must be okay because they can hear their baby’s heartbeat.
#Baby doppler app how to#
Dopplers are medical devices, and health care providers undertake extensive clinical training to ensure that they understand how to use them and can quickly and accurately identify if there is a problem by assessing the pattern and rate of the baby’s heartbeat. Undoubtedly the steady increase of home dopplers is very concerning to health care providers, because it means that women are not listening to their innate instincts when something feels different and are relying on these devices to indicate if their baby is well. What happens if you are hearing what you think is your baby’s heartbeat, but it is in fact the cord or placenta? How do you determine if that heartbeat rate is what it should be? What happens when you can’t hear the heartbeat?
We understand the excitement of hearing your baby’s heartbeat and making sure that everything is going well. This blog might create a little fear, because I do talk about stillbirth, but it is about educating women and their partners and recognising that home dopplers can be fun, but there are risks associated with using them so raising awareness is the aim. They are a very popular purchase by or for couples expecting a baby, especially with anxious first-time mums. We are seeing a rise in marketing for home dopplers and phone Apps, which monitor baby’s heartbeat while they are inutero. Home foetal dopplers and Apps are becoming more concerning as we see social media inundated with marketing for these devices.
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