Doppler use ?

atangiblewish · December 2012

So I found out today that my dad who is a retired chiropractor, he actually went to med school but after graduating decided he wanted to do chiro instead. Anyway, so I found out he's upset that I use the doppler. He said it vibrates the baby's cells. I, of course, disnt know this. But now I'm scared cause I have been using it everyday for the last two weeks. I'd say I use it at most for 10 min. And once I find baby for at most a minute. Anyone else use it everyday? I was thinking every other day but I dunno if I can lol. Please share your usage and maybe even If you used it for a past, successful pregnancy. : thanks!

mamawolf71 · December 2012

My OB assured me it was totally safe to use everyday.

4legsRbest · December 2012

Honestly, I am not sure what your dad means.

My RE assured me it was safe to use and I did my own research also. I am 40w and have used it this entire pregnancy without issue.

minicheezburg · December 2012

4legsRbest:
Honestly, I am not sure what your dad means.
My RE assured me it was safe to use and I did my own research also. I am 40w and have used it this entire pregnancy without issue.

This, my RE and OB both told me it was fine. Perhaps the info is outdated?

jen629 · December 2012

ummm.. I used mine everyday like 3 times a day with my last pregnancy ..lol

Rachel Goldstein · December 2012

OB, RE, MFM, everyone says they're perfectly safe to use. It's merely a listening device. It isn't sending any kind of frequency into your abdomen, merely listening. Like a microphone.

emeraudecephiro · December 2012

No insult to your Dad, but I don't think that to be true. I don't think they'd sell them to the everyday person if that were true...

cdnbird11 · December 2012

I've been assured they are completely safe. During my first trimester I used it everyday, and now that I'm 17 weeks I probably use it 3-4 times/week. It definitely doesn't vibrate any cells, that's for sure. If it did, I'd have no doubt you'd feel it too.

It's great that your dad is showing some concern, though!

mikeANDjen448 · December 2012

emeraudecephiro:
No insult to your Dad, but I don't think that to be true. I don't think they'd sell them to the everyday person if that were true...

This. If it indeed were unsafe there would be more static out and about regarding the usage. I'm sure that technology has come a long way since he was in school, as you said he is retired. I would trust your personal doc as they are more up to date on today's technology.

tdmd09 · December 2012

Ditto the other ladies. Plus, dopplers are pretty similar to the external fetal monitor in L&D which sometimes people are on for HOURS. They probably wouldn't use those as frequently if there was an issue.

I have heard prolonged use could theoretically raise the temperature of the amniotic fluid and be bad that way, but I think it would take a long listening session to do that. I've never heard of scrambling the baby with a doppler.

Gregermis · December 2012

There is no real evidence that it does any damage.

"In the study, researchers injected more than 335 fetal mice at embryonic day 16 with special markers to track neuronal development. Exposure to ultrasound waves for 30 minutes or longer caused a small but statistically significant number of neurons to remain scattered within inappropriate cortical layers and in the adjacent white matter. The magnitude of dispersion of labeled neurons was highly variable but increased with duration of exposure to ultrasound waves."

https://www.unhinderedliving.com/pultra.html

(this is ultrasound used in sonogram... not a doppler). The waves from an ultrasound machine are much higher (up to 740 watts vs less than 20 watts).

https://www.meditech.com.cn/Meditech-Library/What-is-the-difference-between-a-fetal-doppler-and-a-ultrasound-scanner

As long as you aren't having daily sonograms that last 30 min or more... you're fine. I'll keep my thoughts about your father to myself

atangiblewish · December 2012

Thank you all very much for your responses. When my brother told me about my dad being upset. I said this is the one thing I will trust. My dad is extremely smart medical wise and I always tend to listen to him. But yea glad I came here.

FreyaWin2382 · December 2012

It's perfectly safe. With respect to his background, I would question his information.

ETA: the more I think about it, I think he is confusing the small hand held dopplers now used for home use with some of the technology used in the hospital and/or an ultrasound machine (ultrasonic waves can be used to break up things like kidney stones).

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