![]() ![]() The key issue, as the RCOG explain in their statement, is that seeking professional advice from a qualified midwife or doctor is best. “Having the machine is a really crude diversion from developing your own skills and intuition,” she says. As an expert researcher, she points out that we have never really paid much attention to researching the communication between a mother and her unborn baby. Professor Emerita Mavis Kirkham has also been concerned about the at home use of fetal dopplers for some time. But this can be undermined by the use of such technologies. This can undermine people’s trust in their own bodies and cause unnecessary worry.Īs a midwife, I see women develop amazing ways of being in touch with their bodies and their babies. Others said they became concerned about the tiniest change. Some parents have said that they found they wanted to listen in more and more frequently. In reality, some parents find that having a fetal doppler at home actually makes them feel more anxious. Some of the advertising for these products shows happy actors claiming that owning such a device made them feel reassured. There is an additional concern about the undermining of parents’ knowledge and confidence. “We recommend that women monitor their baby’s movements during pregnancy as a reduction or pattern change in movement can indicate that the baby is unwell.” ( RCOG) In summary, as the RCOG spokesperson noted: ![]() Childbirth educator Vicki Hobbs has written an in-depth blog post about this here. And, as is often the case in midwifery and medicine, one test or technology may not be enough to get a full picture of wellbeing. In the case of multiple pregnancy (which may or may not be known about surprise twins do still occur!) then this can further confuse the situation. The machine may pick up the mother’s heartbeat rather than the baby’s. ![]() There are a number of ways in which false reassurance may occur. In other words, they can lead parents to think that all is well when it might not be. The second concern is that, in untrained hands, fetal dopplers may give false reassurance. Safety information is not always in line with current evidence and babies are being unnecessarily exposed to technologies that may cause harm, especially if not used correctly. This is a key reason why some midwives, doctors and others are concerned about the sale of hand-held dopplers and the hiring of ultrasound machines to parents-to-be for home use or even entertainment. 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. And concerns about this sit alongside wider concerns about the increased use of sonic technology to gather knowledge about babies.ĭoppler ultrasound can be very useful when employed judiciously. Evidence also shows that ultrasound affects the brain. One needs to know how to use it to reduce the risk of that. The US Federal Drug Administration has previously warned that ultrasound heats up the baby’s tissue. The concerns about the at-home use of fetal dopplers are very real.įirst, there exist concerns about the safety of ultrasound, especially in untrained hands. This isn’t an attempt to ‘protect’ professional knowledge. If parents are concerned about a baby, they should seek advice from a midwife or doctor rather than attempting to use this technology to try to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. The RCOG focus on the concern that home use of fetal dopplers can lead to false reassurance. The advice follows growing concerns from some midwives, doctors and others about the safety of this technology. Some companies also hire out ultrasound machines, which is also of concern. But, over the past few years, companies have been advertising and selling them to parents for home use. They have been used for years by health care professionals to listen to a baby’s heartbeat. The Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have published updated guidelines on this, which are supported by a statement from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.įetal dopplers are hand-held ultrasound devices that use soundwaves to listen to a baby’s heartbeat. Government and professional bodies in the UK strongly advise against the use of fetal dopplers by parents in the home.
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