Angel Sounds Fetal Doppler - Anyone?

I understand your desire to "make sure everything is okay" but I'm concerned about the effects a doppler used frequently might have on the baby. It is a form of ultrasound, and although u/s is considered safe, there haven't really been good-quality studies that show if it really is safe. In fact, I wonder if having frequent u/s or Doppler contributes to the high rate of miscarriage in women who have had previous miscarriages and "just want to make sure the baby is fine".

I'll tell you this, too, from my own first pregnancy -- I had my first appt at 9 weeks, and the midwife couldn't hear the heartbeat w/the Doppler. She said not to worry, that it was frequently hard to find the baby so early in pregnancy. My 2nd appt was at 13 weeks, and we *still* couldn't find the heartbeat. She tried to get me not to worry, but I did anyway. The next appt was only 2 weeks after (because she wanted to hear the heartbeat and make sure everything was okay), and we heard the heartbeat, but only fleetingly. The next appt or two, they barely heard the heartbeat long enough to count it. It turns out that my baby was avoiding the Doppler. At the time, I joked that he was running away from it, but I later came to realize that it was no joke -- it was literally happening. Even when I was giving birth and they used it while I was pushing, he tried to get away from it, and although I was pushing him down, he moved back up. You can't convince me that they can't hear it, even though it's supposedly "ultra" sound and too high-pitched for them to hear. They hear *something* and it disturbs them.

It may help your peace of mind, but since there isn't anything you can do at this point to avoid a miscarriage were you not able to find the heartbeat, the benefits don't seem worth the risks.

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Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!
I wouldn't recommend getting any of them, unless the doctor felt you needed it for some reason.
Think about this:
When my mother was pregnant with me (in the 1950's), she had her routinely scheduled 36-week (to assess the baby's gestational age, size, etc. abdominal X-RAY). The idea of prenatal x-rays horrifies us now.
When we first started doppling mothers routinely in labor and delivery 30+ years ago, the doctors were asking about the long-term effects of the sound waves on the baby's heart. Although it is presumed to be pretty safe, I don't think we know the answer yet.
Although I might be overly cautious, I wouldn't use it casually.

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Kathy has given you good advice. The frequency of early us's (and even midwives using dopplers) scares me. I never even try to find a heartbeat until 20 wks, and never use a doppler until active labor! Kathy is right, the fetus does not like us waves, (which is what those home dopplers use) they try to get away! It has not been proven but remains a possibility that US use may be linked to the rise in autism, and other learning disabilities, depending on what part of the brain gets zapped with te most US waves, so why take a chance? The home dopplers are weak, which minimises risk, but as many moms have already said, they don't work all that well either.
While we're talking about home dopplers, I want to caution that some women who work in the health care field, such as a hospital or drs office, where dopplers are lying around, are tempted to take a listen once in a while. There are fetal dopplers & vascular dopplers. The vascular dopplers have higher megahertz (sp?) which increasses the potential hazard to the fetus, so stick with fetal dopplers that have no greater than 2 or 3 megahertz. Most dopplers say right on them somewhere how many megahertz they are, some have interchangable probes too for multiple uses.
M., CPM

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i had a 1st sounds monitor too and couldn't hear anything on it except the sound of the the fluid wooshing around. and stuff like that cannot be returned once if was opened so it was a waste of $$.

I actually bought the model they had out last year. My little one is 13 months now. It was on our registry and my husband just HAD to have it. Basically we never used it. We tried it out and it worked fine, we just also had a regular monitor that had better distance coverage. I am writing b/c we have it on Craigs list for sale and it is in perfect condition. If you are in my area or not, you might look on there for a cheaper one that way you aren't out the money. I think I have it listed for $20. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi A., I haven't used that brand, but I did use First Sounds. Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything except the sounds of my own body all the way through 9 months. So, I am not sure that these products work that well.

D.
http://www.bizformomsonline.com/

Never used it and never heard of it until I was close to delivery but if I had it to do over, I would buy one... no matter what.

I would save your money. I bought a fetal monitor and never heard a thing. Maybe I had too much tummy fat, though. Unless you are very thin, I'd skip it.

Congrats on your pregnancy. You'll have to let us know if it's twins or not! God bless you and your family.

Congrats on baby #3! I also have a three year old, a 22 month old, and am due any day now with baby #3. I would HIGHLY recommend a fetal doppler monitor. I simply had to chuckle at the responses that mentioned it being harmful to the fetus. I checked with my doc...he assured me it was fine! (And with this pregnancy we have had some complications from other things, and I have had at least one ultrasound a week for the past 16 weeks, by specialists....and they aren't worried about the overuse of ultrasounds, so I really don't think a heartbeat monitor would harm the baby either!)Anywys, with baby #1 I rented one from HeartBeats at Home (www.heartbeatsathome.com)...this is the same quality that they use in the dr. office. The kind that you can buy in the store are not. If you read the back of them, by the time you can hear the heartbeat, you should already be feeling the baby move and then the "fear" is relieved. Anyways, I rented it with my first baby for a couple of months and it was a GREAT experience. My husband said I was a totally different woman because I wasn't so worried. Even after I started feeling the baby move, it was good to use if I hadn't felt him move in a while. Anyways, with baby #2, I went ahead and bought the darn thing (from the same company) instead of renting it again. And now I have used it during my third pregnancy (my toddlers think it is fun to hear the baby's heart). Anyways, I would highly recommend getting one...but just be sure it is a really good one, not the kind you buy at the store (I don't know anything about the model you mentioned). Oh, and I always heard my babies' heartbeats early with it...around 9 and 10 weeks. This third time it took a little longer (around 11 weeks) because of the position of my placenta...it was blocking the sound...so don't freak if you don't hear it early. In fact, I always waiting until my dr. found the heartbeat first before I started looking for it on my own...just so I woulndn't be freaking out! Good luck!

hi i used this when i was pregnant with my twins and never could find the heartbeats...so i wont use it again..just a few months ago i bought a Hi Bebe BT-200 Fetal Heart Rate Monitor for 115 dollars with free shipping and free lotion...i heard it works better..but we are not pregnant yet..we are trying for another baby and i want to have it for when i do get pregnant..here is the website....http://www.healthchecksystems.com/product/index.cfm?produ... this helps...it also has good reviews on the internet

I have heard that most dopplers that you purchase are pretty much junk.... after I had a miscarriage (my first pregnancy), I was determined for peace of mind on #2. I had someone recommend renting a real doppler for a few months until the baby started moving, then you don't need one, you just need the baby to be awake to get all the peace of mind that you need! I rented mine for about 3 mos. from babybeat.com. It was a wonderful experience having the doppler and hearing that heartbeat anytime I wanted to. I was a bit paranoid about what people would say about overusing it, so I did it about every 3 days or so. Highly recommended. And it's not very much, probably less than you'd pay to buy one that wasn't as good of a quality. Babybeat.com.

I am not sure what kind of person you are but I think having something like that in my house may cause me to get a little weird. I would be afraid I would start obsessing!!