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What Is A Fetal Doppler?

A fetal doppler or baby heart monitor, is a handheld ultrasonic device that is used to listen to the heartbeat of an unborn child in the womb. It uses the Doppler Effect to provide an audible representation of the babies heartbeat. These were originally intended purely for use in the healthcare profession but are rapidly becoming popular in the home.

Fetal Doppler

It allows you to hear your unborn baby's heart beat anytime you like, anywhere you wish to get to know your baby and form a special bond with her/him. It’s a great device to share the joy of pregnancy with your family, relatives and friends and to have peace of mind knowing your baby is safe.

There are different types of fetal Doppler and some will even digitally record the heartbeat so it can be saved to CD and sent to your doctor.

As these are expensive devices and are not used for long, some parents-to-be opt to rent them. To purchase a fetal Doppler will cost around $450 - $600 whereas renting one will cost around $20 - $25 per month.

These devices cannot be reliably used to predict the gender of the unborn child as there is no evidence that there is no relationship between fetal heart rate and fetus gender.

Fetal Heart Rates

Starting at week 5 the fetal heart will accelerate at a rate of 3.3 beats per day for the next month.

When it first starts to beat, the fetal heart beats at approximately the same rate as the mothers, which is around 80 to 85 bpm. Assuming a start heat beat of 80bpm, the following illustrates heart rate for weeks 5 to 9:

  • week 5 starts at 80 and ends at 103 bpm
  • week 6 starts at 103 and ends at 126 bpm
  • week 7 starts at 126 and ends at 149 bpm
  • week 8 starts at 149 and ends at 172 bpm
  • at week 9 the fetal heartbeat tends to beat within a range of 155 to 195 bpm

The fetal heart rate will begin to decrease and generally will fall within the range of 120 to 160 bpm by week 12.