Mums-to-be warned over use of fetal heart rate monitors

Mums-to-be should not buy monitors to listen to their baby’s heartbeat at home.

The warning in this week’s British Medical Journal, advises parents-to-be not to use the Dopper device over fears that they may lead to delays in seeking help for reduced fetal movements.

The fetal Doppler is readily available for purchase on auction website ebay for around £25. It claims to allow mothers to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, though in reality, untrained women are more likely to be listening to the blood flow through the placenta.

The warning has been raised in the wake of an incident at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral.

A pregnant 27 year old women was admitted into hospital at 32 weeks of pregnancy with reduced fetal movements.

She had noticed a reduction in her baby’s activity two days earlier. Instead of contacting her midwife, she had used her own Doppler device to listen to her baby’s heartbeat to check that everything was OK. When finally being seen by health care professionals, the baby was delivered by caesarean section later that day, with the baby remaining on the special care baby unit for eight weeks.