How early did you hear baby's heart on a doppler?

the_pink_panther_2

Am only a few weeks pregnant and now spending every second online realising just how little I know about pregnancy and babies. It's my first and I've realisied I'm categorised as an 'elderly mother', or 'geriatric mother' or something of the sort which is at bast a little depressing.

Came across these devices which I think are called 'Dopplers' on Amazon, which seem ridiculously cheap for what they are. Am fascinated, and also extremely impatient to hear baby's heart (but really more so to know it's as safe as can be). Read that they can work from 12+ weeks, but then some reviewers said earlier, suggesting that the slimmer you are the easier it is to find the heart beat. I was wondering how early on you first heard baby's heart?

Thank you:)

pigpen

9 weeks BUT it is not my first and I know what I am listening for, sometimes it still wouldn't be possible to find it for a few days..

I wouldn't bother getting one if you are likely to get in a flap if you cannot find the hb early on or on days they are just not playing ball and you can't find it.

Midwives refuse to listen for a hb until around 16+ weeks because if they cannot locate it they were sending too many women in for scans just to reassure them and the hospitals got fed up of them wasting resources!

Amfodyndad

Can't remember with our first, but with this one it was around week 14

the_pink_panther_2

9 weeks is amazing. Thank you so much for this- don't think I'd get in a flap so early on if I can't hear anything as I know most people probably wouldn't, just good to know when I can start trying to hear it:)

pukkamum

I would say that getting a doppler can cause more anxiety than it solves, it is notoriously hard to pick up baby's heartbeat even for midwives, so you could end up really panicking.

flutterby_lil

the_pink_panther wrote: »

9 weeks is amazing. Thank you so much for this- don't think I'd get in a flap so early on if I can't hear anything as I know most people probably wouldn't, just good to know when I can start trying to hear it:)

Oh it was much later for me, prob about 16 weeks!!

Nicki

Before 12 weeks the uterus is tucked deep down in the pelvis behind that big bony girdle, so however slim you are, I would have thought the chances of hearing a heartbeat on a home doppler in a first pregnancy would be really small. If you've had a lot of pregnancies, the muscles are a bit more relaxed and the uterus can pop up into the abdomen a bit quicker I think. The other thing which will impact is the location of the placenta. If it is between the baby and the front of the abdomen, you might struggle.

I didn't have a home doppler but the earliest my doctor picked up a fetal heartbeat using a hospital grade doppler was 13 weeks and he was surprised because that is still quite early even for a professional.

The other thing to bear in mind is would you recognise the FHB if you heard it? The doppler will pick up your own heartbeat easily and also the sound of the blood rushing around which can be quite fast. If you haven't actually heard a confirmed FHB in a hospital setting, it would be easy to mistake either of these for the baby.

By the time you can reliably hear the heartbeat, you are quite close to the point where you will be feeling movement anyway, so their reassurance value is only for quite a small period of time, with as others have said, the risk that they also send you needlessly into a panic when you go a few days without being able to find it because baby has moved into an odd position.

cloudy11

I would also recommend against a doppler as they can cause more stress and anxiety. As pukkamum said, even the midwife can find it difficult!

I had a go and found what I thought was the baby's heartbeat- it turns out it was the blood rushing around so I was falsely reassured anyway. I think it is best just to let the medical professionals do the checks- it really can cause more worry otherwise.

katiechoc_2

My MW found my FHB at the 13 week appointment, so before I felt any movement or anything but it took her a bit of searching around - and as others have said, I don't think I'd have recognised it if I'd been on my own poking at my tummy! I was tempted by one but I'd have been a wreck every time I didn't find it straight away, even when I was almost ready to pop the MWs took a few (10-15, which would have been a lifetime if I'd been doing it at home) seconds to find it.

Congratulations by the way!

lazywife

MW didn't listen for it until 16 weeks.x

Bangton

I've only just heard my baby's heartbeat at my 28 week appointment. I didn't buy a doppler and was never offered anything sooner as midwife said it is difficult to find. Personally I'd refrain from getting one. I'm a first time mum and was so anxious that I'd turn up at scan and see nothing that I couldn't get into anything pregnancy related at all. A doppler would have been terrible for me. If it's not to help ease anxiety one would question wanting to get one. I'm so glad I'm at the stage I can feel my baby because the first trimester and all the waiting was awful so I empathise fully with feeling a bit unsure! !