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How early do dopplers work?

I'm only 9+3 but as I'm not getting an early scan i won't see baby for 18 days and I'm getting so paranoid that something will be wrong! If I could hear HB I would feel a lot better! But I vaguely remember hearing that dopplers won't work for quite some time and are hit and miss anyway,is this true? I've no pain/blood etc,I'm just paranoid! Do you think that if I asked MW she'd have a listen with a stethoscope? thanks! x

Replies

  • I have one, but to be honest i rarely use it! I first heard the real HB at 16 weeks, before then all i was picking up was my own pulse lol. And even now at 21 weeks i often cant find it. Will you see your midwife before you have a scan? Mine listened in to baby at my 16 week check, but did warn me that as baby was so small she might not find it. She did though! So yours might well have a listen if you ask xxx
  • Hiya,
    My doppler (angelsounds) picked up our baby's heartbeat at 10+1 and I know that some ppl have picked it up even earlier so it is definately possible. The thing is not to become too hung up on it if you try it and cant find it as there are many reasons why ppl wont hear it for weeks, such as an anterior placenta. Im not sure your MW would be able to pick it up with a stethoscope - a doppler is a more powerful sound amplifier so she may try with that if anything. I know I felt the same as you leading up to my 12 week scan and found it very reassuring to hear the heartbeat as and when I wanted to!

    Good luck with it.

    Becly

    27+1
  • Hi hun ,

    I am 9 weeks and 4 days today, I know what you mean about worrying. Are you still getting signs?? Even though I was I was still worried. We booked in to have an early scan which was yesterday and it was thr best feeling in the worls maybe you could book an early scan to ease your mind.

    I want to buy a doppler as well but I think you have to be about 11 to 12 weeks before you hear anything??

    K xx
    9+4
  • Some people hear it quite early, but I didn't find my baby's until 16 weeks - before that I was also just hearing my own heartbeat. My midwife listened to it at my 16 week appointment but only because I asked her to and she warned me that we might not find it. However we did and once I realised how fast it was I realised my previous mistakes. Then I went home and found it with my own doppler, but even now it can be hit and miss whether I can pick it up (22+5).
    I know how anxious you feel at the beginning, but if you don't find it would that make you feel worse? If you can accept that you may well not find it yet, then go ahead and get a doppler or ask the midwife to listen with hers (she definitely won't find it with a stethoscope yet - not until about 23 weeks I believe). If you get a doppler, you will use it regularly throughout your pregnancy, so I wouldn't worry about buying it too early.
  • hi

    at 9 weeks there is very very little chance of a doppler picking up ur baby's heartbeat. most home dopplers can't pick anything up until after 12 weeks and even then thats a rarity most ppl i've heard on here have finally found the hb themselves at 16 weeks as baby only begins to come out from behind ur pelvis at 12 weeks so will be almost impossible to hear even on a doctors one. my doctor used his one on me at 12 wks but cldn'rt puck anything up, even tho i had heard it a few days before at our scan, he cldn't find it til 16 weeks when we saw him again. also at such an early stage its best not to get one as if ur a natural worrier it'll probably send u into panic overdrive if u can't find it even tho it'll probably just mean that baby is too small or hiding at the back.

    xx
    30+1

    [Modified by: siany on January 05, 2009 03:53 PM]

  • oh and a stethoscope cant't pick up a heartbeat til gone 20weeks, i think more like 25wks. ur mw shld have her own doppler tho which she cld try but just don't panic urself if she can't find it because it is quite unlikely that she'll pick it up xx
  • Hubby bought me a doppler for xmas. I was 12 weeks exactly on xmas day and i tried it out. Hubby made me promise i wouldn't get worried if i couldn't find it but i found baby straight away!!!

    Since then i have used it several times a weeks with no problems. Sometimes it is quite quiet if baby is hiding but as i am a nurse and used to listening to heart/ BP's i find it quite easy to pick up the sounds.

    I think it is unlikely your midwife will try listening in until at least 12 weeks

    xxx

    http://bd.lilypie.com/Dq0o0/.png

  • For me, the angelsounds doppler is the best thing ive bought during this pregnancy. If i hadnt have bought it i think id have shelled out a small fortune on private scans. Any time ive worried its always reassured me, although i know not everyone has the same experience.

    I ordererd mine at 10 weeks, it came at 10+3, i used it that day and found heartbeat within a few minutes (well hubby found it actually). Personally i would say go for it although ive heard bad reports about the summer one, id definately recommend angelsounds. If you do get one just try not to worry if you dont hear it straight away.

    Good luck!
    Katy 20+6
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