Fetal Doppler & Safety
A fetal Doppler is a tool used by many obstetricians, and is now available for purchase as an over-the-counter tool for parents to use at home.
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Definition
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A fetal Doppler is a small ultrasound device that uses specialized sound frequencies known as doptones to hear a baby's heartbeat.
History
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Ultrasound was invented to listen to enemy submarines during World War II. Dr. Ian Donald discovered its possible use for viewing objects through layers of human tissue in 1955.
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Benefits
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Dopplers are commonly used to monitor fetal heart tones and confirm a viable pregnancy as early as week 10 in the baby's gestation.
Cavitation
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According to Dr. Sears, pediatrician and author of "The Birth Book," "When sound waves bombard laboratory tissues at high frequencies, they shake up the molecules, heat them, and produce microscopic gas bubbles in the cell called 'cavitation.' Whether this heat or these bubbles damage the cell is unknown, although studies suggest that the changes demonstrated in research test tubes are insignificant in babies."
Growth Retardation
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A study published in the "British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology" found that babies exposed to five or more Doppler ultrasounds were 30 percent more likely to develop intrauterine growth retardation--a condition ultrasound is often used to detect.
Alternatives
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If a pregnant woman feels uncomfortable with the use of a Doppler at appointments, she can request that the doctor use a fetoscope instead. Fetoscopes are used regularly by midwives in their practices.
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