At Home Fetal Dopplers, Yea or Nay?
When I was pregnant with my first daughter nearly eleven years ago, I wasn’t plugged into the Internet. I spent my pregnancy blissfully unaware of miscarriage statistics and horror stories. When I was pregnant with number two seven years later, I was a wreck. One of the things that saved my sanity early on was that my friend owned a medical grade fetal doppler which she loaned to me on occassion. With it, I was able to find my little one’s heartbeat at just 9 weeks’ gestatation–a week before my first prenatal appointment. Because my friend was also pregnant, she kept the doppler at her house, and I just borrowed it if I was worried. This was a win-win situation because I could use it to calm my fears, but I couldn’t obsess over it.
I have since encountered numerous women online who have either purchased these devices or rented them during pregnancy. There are many who are opposed to this, believing that it bothers, or perhaps even harms, the baby. In part because of this, and also in part because I was a little more relaxed with number three, I ultimately decided against buying one after much consideration. That said, anyone I know who has one or has rented one has been very happy with the decision. If you are interested in purchasing one, there is a booming trade on ebay. Top rental sites are bellybeats.com and storkradio.com. Just don’t waste your money on the cheaper BeBe Sounds monitor. I had one of those with number two as well, and the only thing I ever heard, even at the end of my pregnancy, was amplified noise (like the television that was on downstairs).
I have to reiterate what she said about not getting the cheap sound monitors. The good kinds can detect the heart beat after 8 weeks, but the ones that only ‘amplify’ the sounds aren’t meant to be used until you’re in your third trimester
September 12th, 2009 at 12:02 am