Hearing your baby’s heartbeat is a special experience that’s unlike anything else. It can make the pregnancy feel more real as you listen, in the midwife’s office, to the fast beating of your baby’s heart. Many pregnant women find listening to the rapid beat of their baby’s heart reassuring, and it’s seen as a good way to bond with your unborn child.

Some women would like to have an at-home listening device, so they can allow their partner and children to hear the new baby’s heartbeat. A better option might be to ask your midwife to allow the whole family to come to your appointment, to listen during a routine prenatal check.

Many mamas-to-be look forward to their prenatal care appointments to hear their baby’s heart beating again. If the wait between midwife appointments feels too long, you might be wondering: are fetoscopes safe and can you use one to listen to your baby’s heartbeat at home?

When can I hear my baby’s heartbeat?

Your baby’s heart starts to develop during the early weeks of pregnancy, and you’ll be able to see your baby’s beating heart at your 12-week scan and other routine ultrasounds. Professional Doppler equipment can easily pick up your baby’s heartbeat from around week 6 of your pregnancy.

Although it is sometimes possible to hear the heartbeat before then, many healthcare providers wait until 16 weeks to check because of the risk of maternal anxiety if they cannot find a heartbeat before then.

A fetoscope will pick up your baby’s heartbeat from around week 20 of your pregnancy. Midwives might use a Doppler as standard, but you can request they try with a fetoscope. Some midwives use a Pinard horn, a traditional piece of midwifery equipment designed to amplify the sound of the fetal heartbeat. This simple wooden horn is held against your bump as the midwife places her ear on the listening side of the horn.

Most Dopplers for home use can only reliably pick up the fetal heart rate during the third trimester, during which time you’ll be able to feel regular fetal movement anyway.

What is a fetoscope (fetal stethoscope)?

A fetal stethoscope (fetoscope) looks like a regular stethoscope, but the end is bell-shaped to make the fetal heartbeat audible. The modern fetal stethoscope’s bell mimics the shape of the Pinard horn. A fetal stethoscope doesn’t rely on technology or sound waves; it is a simple acoustic device to amplify the sound of your baby’s heartbeat.

Your midwife might use a fetal stethoscope to check your baby’s heartbeat during prenatal appointments. A fetal stethoscope can even help determine the baby’s position, as the heartbeat is loudest when the stethoscope is placed close to the baby’s heart. A midwife is trained in where to position the fetal heart rate monitor on the mother’s abdomen to determine the baby’s position.

One of the benefits of a fetal stethoscope is that it is a simple listening device, so the developing baby is not exposed to ultrasound waves. Although there aren’t any known risk factors perceived in ultrasound technology for a developing baby, experts advise keeping its use to a minimum and performing scans only when medically necessary.

Experts advise against at-home fetal heart monitors

Unfortunately, although you might love listening to the steady beat of your baby’s heart, experts feel the risks of at-home fetal heart monitors far outweigh their benefits.

Maternal anxiety

Stress during pregnancy isn’t good for you or your baby, so the fewer things you have to worry about, the better. Although an at-home heart rate monitor might seem like a reassuring thing to have, it might also increase your anxiety about your baby’s health. You can easily end up in a loop: having intrusive thoughts about your baby’s health, using your at-home fetal heart monitor for reassurance, only to have another intrusive thought later in the day and reaching for the fetal monitor again.

Read more in BellyBelly’s article Stress During Pregnancy | How Does Stress Affect Pregnancy?

It’s easy to misinterpret what you’re hearing

Midwives and obstetricians are specially trained to use a fetal stethoscope to listen to your baby’s heartbeat. Without this training, it isn’t easy to know exactly what you’re listening to. Although you might think you’re listening to your little one’s heartbeat, you could, in fact, be listening to your own heartbeat.

Inability to locate the heartbeat

Without sufficient training and experience, it’s not easy to locate the fetal heartbeat. Midwives have extensive device training as part of their midwifery training so they know how to interpret the data accurately. If you try to listen and can’t locate your baby’s heartbeat, you’re likely to end up in a panic unnecessarily, simply because you have insufficient training in using the device.

You won’t know how to spot a problem

Even if you do locate the heartbeat, you won’t be aware of any problems that might be indicated. Healthcare providers listen to your baby’s heartbeat to check for warning signs. As an inexperienced and untrained fetal stethoscope user, you won’t recognize when your baby’s heartbeat shows something is amiss.

Fetal stethoscopes offer false reassurance

If you experience troubling symptoms, such as reduced fetal movements or spotting, the temptation to reach for your at-home device might deter you from seeking help. If you think you’ve found a reassuring heartbeat at home, you might be falsely reassured and convince yourself a trip to the doctor’s office is unnecessary.

Tragically, there have been cases where the use of a fetal stethoscope has led mothers to delay seeking medical help for their unborn babies. Sadly, women who were concerned about a reduction in movements found reassurance from their at-home heart rate monitors only to discover later that their babies needed medical help.

The British Medical Journal recorded one case of a mother whose baby was stillborn and another case of a baby who required a stay in the NICU after false reassurances from an at-home Doppler device.

For this reason, midwives and obstetricians strongly advise against using at-home fetal heart monitors.

Can I hear my baby’s heartbeat at home with a stethoscope?

Yes, you can use a stethoscope to listen to your little one’s heartbeat during the second half of your pregnancy. From around week 18, the heartbeat will be audible with the help of a stethoscope; however, there are reasons why you might be advised against using one. Although stethoscopes do not carry the potential risks of ultrasound use, they might still increase maternal anxiety or provide false reassurance.

What is the difference between a Doppler and a fetoscope?

Dopplers and fetoscopes are two types of fetal heart monitors. They rely on different technologies. A fetoscope uses acoustic technology to amplify the fetal heartbeat. Dopplers, on the other hand, use ultrasound technology to convert echoing sound waves into sounds so you can hear the baby’s heartbeat.

It’s worth bearing in mind that ultrasound technology can be expensive. The cheap at-home option isn’t as reliable, effective or high quality as the Doppler at your doctor’s office. More expensive equipment is more likely to produce reliable measurements; therefore your ‘bargain’ Doppler device is unlikely to be as trustworthy as the one your midwife uses.

Your prenatal care providers will manually count your baby’s heart rate when using a fetoscope, whereas a Doppler does the work for them. Dopplers are often used in the first trimester because they are more reliable at picking up the baby’s heartbeat in early pregnancy and reduce the risk of human errors. As your baby develops, the heartbeat will grow louder, making it easier to use a fetoscope.

Is there any harm in using an at-home fetal Doppler?

A fetal Doppler uses ultrasound rays, which could expose your baby to risk. There is no evidence of ultrasound rays causing harm but experts advise limiting ultrasound use during pregnancy. Ultrasound scans are only performed when there is a medical need; experts recommend avoiding at-home dopplers for that reason.

According to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA):

‘Expectant mothers should also be aware of concerns with purchasing over-the-counter fetal heartbeat monitoring systems (also called doptones). These devices should only be used by trained health care providers when medically necessary. Use of these devices by untrained persons could expose the fetus to prolonged and unsafe energy levels, or could provide information that is interpreted incorrectly by the user’.

At-home Dopplers were intended to be prescription devices for high-risk women; they were never intended for mainstream use during low-risk pregnancies.