FDA article on U/S & Dopplers

khan08

hey girls found and article today on a local news station. It talks about the dangers of excessive U/S and Doppler use. The website is www.minnpost.com and title of article is FDA warns expectant mothers. I would try to tie it to this post but for some reason it wouldn't copy the link over I thought it was an interesting read and felt that you guys would want to take a gander at it.

khan08

I am in no means saying either way is good or bad. I was contemplating on a Doppler purchase for the new year but I might wait and ask my baby doctor.

doxiemom415

I can't even handle random internet articles telling you that every single thing that you do is going to harm your baby but they don't really have any hard evidence of such. I'm not going to comment how I really feel about this article, or similar ones like it, because a.) we'll be here all day and b.) I don't have the patience currently. I will say, that pregnant women have MORE than enough to worry about without the added stress of people sharing articles that "are on the internet so they MUST be true" all over Facebook or forums or wherever. If my doctor is concerned, I'll be concerned. If you don't trust your doctor, you should get a new doctor. I pay them to worry FOR me. 

Murran131

That's the first legitimate source that I've seen site risks with excessive ultrasounds/Doppler activity. It still sounds like the risk is incredibly minimal, in fact, the article didn't mention any actual risks had been found. But still, I guess I won't be sitting around with a Doppler on my belly all day I finally got 'My Baby Beats' app to work last night anyway, so now I can use the microphone on my cell to pick up baby's heartbeat if I feel unreasonably concerned!

tdmloverrn

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm095508.htm

This is the article that includes the doppler. I use a doppler pretty often, but I also let my OB know as well. She just said to make sure I don't confuse my own heartbeat with the baby's, which hasn't been a problem for me.

khan08

Like I said I was not posting saying it was good or bad. I seen the article and I felt wow, I will have to ask my doc about the Doppler comment. I agree with you 100% that us pregnant women have so much to worry about and yes we do pay our doctors more than enough to worry for us. Thanks for your input.

khan08

Murran131 said:

That's the first legitimate source that I've seen site risks with excessive ultrasounds/Doppler activity. It still sounds like the risk is incredibly minimal, in fact, the article didn't mention any actual risks had been found. But still, I guess I won't be sitting around with a Doppler on my belly all day I finally got 'My Baby Beats' app to work last night anyway, so now I can use the microphone on my cell to pick up baby's heartbeat if I feel unreasonably concerned!

My coworker has that app to hear her babies heart beat. I didn't think it actually worked but hey I might have to check it out.

doxiemom415

And for the record- I asked my high risk doctor specifically about my at-home doppler.. his exact words were "the doppler is perfectly safe in moderation, don't use it for hours every single day and you're perfectly fine.. the only time it could bother the babies is the further along that you get, it's just loud for them".

khan08

doxiemom415 said:

And for the record- I asked my high risk doctor specifically about my at-home doppler.. his exact words were "the doppler is perfectly safe in moderation, don't use it for hours every single day and you're perfectly fine.. the only time it could bother the babies is the further along that you get, it's just loud for them".

What caught me off guard was that it was posted from my prenatal clinic! I was like what the f I was just there last week and we touched on the subject of another U/S for my high risk pregnancy. I will def. be asking them about what they feel is right or wrong.

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dana1047

I mainly focus on movement now that I'm further along. In the beginning I would check via Doppler maybe once every few days.

SuperFudge00

DH sent me this article. I understood it to mean elective use by non-professionals. I also researched further to find that the major concern was leaving the transducer in one place for too long allowing enough heat to generate to penetrate the fetal tissue. I then asked DH if he was concerned enough to cancel our 3D ultrasound and he said no. I'm glad because I'm so looking forward to it and although I'm not concerned, I've been more open to his concerns since this is his baby, too.

Murran131

@khan08 - It didn't work for me until just a couple days ago, and I haven't tried it since to see if I could find the heartbeat again. The app says it isn't recommended until week 30 because the heartbeat is just too little to hear, but some people have luck with it much much earlier. Part of the problem is that baby doesn't hold still long enough to pick it up most of the time!

tdmloverrn

snegde said:

Are ppl still using dopplers frequently? I used mine twice a week or so until I felt movement but now I use it once every few weeks. I also put no stock in this article.

Ever since the baby started moving more, I probably use my doppler about once a week. Before, I was using it daily before bed. Regarding the doppler section of the article, it really doesn't say what the fetal or maternal risks are, so I'm not too worried about.

CivilMommy

kendallroseb said:

Yeah, it seems as if the biggest concern is the use of these technologies by non-medically trained professionals. If your OB requests additional ultrasounds because you are high risk - I would not use this article as a basis to not get those done.

Amen.

Don't skip your medically necessary scans.

Just tone it down on the for-funsies stuff at the mall or laying on the couch at home with the Doppler going for hours.

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kturner61

After 3 losses- the doppler was my sanity. I went in last pregnancy with no indication anything was wrong and found out our baby boy had no heartbeat. From about 10 weeks to 18ish I did it every night long enough to hear the heart then I turned it off. It was my sanity. I figured being anxious all the time wasn't healthy either so 5 seconds of the doppler didn't hurt baby.