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Home › Articles › Safety Issues › Dabbling with Dopplers

Dabbling with Dopplers

Is Listening in on Baby at Home a Good Idea?

By Alex Powell

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Finally, Dr. Kingston says, most home Dopplers that patients can buy are of poor quality compared to the type used in medical offices. This is reflected in the cost – many home Dopplers cost less than $100, while the type your health care provider uses likely costs more than $600.

Holly Cieri wanted to rent a Doppler with her last pregnancy. Cieri, from southern Pennsylvania, and her husband had struggled to conceive, suffering three early losses along the way. She felt that having a Doppler might ease some of her worry about the pregnancy. However, both her husband and her obstetrician talked her out of the rental.

"My husband was afraid that I would panic every time I couldn't find the heartbeat, and my OB told me that he had several patients who could not find the heartbeat and then came running into his office in a panic, just to learn that everything was OK," Cieri says.

Deciding on a Doppler
Still, many new and expectant parents have had positive experiences with Dopplers. "I used one of these during my pregnancy, [and it] was a reassuring, comforting tool to have at home," says Jackie Carr from San Diego, Calif. "There is nothing like hearing that little heartbeat."

If you're interested in renting or buying a Doppler, talk to your health care provider about your reasons for doing so. You may find that he or she can offer other options.

"Sme women, [especially women who have] had pregnancy losses, want to use a Doppler as a way to keep track of their fetus," says Dr. Robert Atlas, Chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md. Instead, he encourages his patients to come in as often as they need for reassurance that all is going well with their pregnancy.


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