Call to ban home use foetal monitors

20th June 2017 – Foetal Dopplers marketed to monitor the heartbeat of babies in the womb should be banned for home use, says a stillbirth and pregnancy charity.

Kicks Count says the devices can lead pregnant women to be falsely reassured that their baby is well and could lead to unnecessary stillbirths.

'Not an entertainment device'

A petition set up by the charity to ban over-the-counter sales of home-use Dopplers – also known as foetal listening devices – has attracted over 7,000 signatures.

Elizabeth Hutton, CEO of Kicks Count, comments in a statement: " Midwives and doctors train for many years to interpret what they hear through a Doppler. It is a medical device, not an object to be used for entertainment."

A major cause for confusion is that the mother's own heartbeat, or even the sound made by her placenta, could be mistaken for a foetal heartbeat, leading to a woman being falsely reassured that everything is OK with her baby.

Widespread marketing

Foetal Dopplers are widely available for sale in the UK, with prices ranging from less than £15 to several hundred pounds. However, their use in the home is not recommended by medical professionals.

Kicks Count is concerned that foetal Dopplers could cause stillbirths in cases where mothers delay seeking medical advice because they wrongly believe they have heard their babies' heartbeat using these devices.

There are more than 3,600 stillbirths in the UK each year. The government has set a target to halve this number by 2030.

'I wish I had listened to my instincts'

Vicky McNelly, from Reading, told Kicks Count that she lost her baby after being falsely reassured by a personal Doppler that her pregnancy was going well.

She explained that although she felt unsettled by changes in her baby's movements when she was 2 weeks overdue, the Doppler gave her reassurance. "I told my husband she wasn't moving as much but I was sure she would after I'd had some breakfast so I sent him to work," she said. "I had breakfast but still wasn't feeling any movement and I kept reminding myself that I'd heard her on the doppler. I called the labour ward who told me to come in.

"After arriving at the hospital alone I was seen by a midwife who tried to listen for her heartbeat but found nothing. I told my husband to come to the hospital straight away. I was then taken to a room to have a sonogram and they didn't find her heartbeat. I felt my heart sink as I knew my baby had died.

"They had to do two further sonograms [ ultrasound scans] to be sure but I knew what they'd find. I looked at the screen and saw the chambers of her heart were still – there was no life – it had slipped through my fingers after getting so close.

"I wish I had listened to my instincts and sought help when I first felt something was wrong."