Baby Heartbeat Monitor Guide

Are you looking to purchase a baby heartbeat monitor? Many pregnant women may have some worries about the health of their unborn baby, especially if they have a high risk pregnancy or a previous pregnancy that resulted in miscarriage. As a mother in the early weeks of pregancy you cannot feel any movements from your baby which may raise the question of your unborn child's well-being. Thankfully, due to significant medical advances and technological breakthroughs, an expecting mother has the opportunity to monitor their growing baby through the use of a baby heartbeat monitor.

Baby heartbeat monitors have grown in popularity among expecting mothers with high risk pregnancies by allowing them to place the device on her own belly to hear the unborn child's heart beating. Having a fetal doppler monitor is a good way to relieve any worries for women with high risk pregnancies or those that just want piece of mind knowing the that the baby is all right.

This invention of a baby heartbeat monitor, which also goes by the name of doppler fetal heart rate monitor or fetal doppler monitor, was designed by Dr. Edward Hon. Prior to the development of the fetal monitor in the 1950s, the only way to monitor the fetal heart rate was through the use of a stethoscope on the mother's stomach. The fetal heart monitor is a lightweight hand-held device that uses ultrasound to detect the fetus's heartbeat in the uterus both during pre-natal care period and during labor. The baby monitor allows expecting mothers to hear their baby's heartbeat sound at all times.

The fetal doppler monitor is so named due to its use of the Doppler Effect, which measures the change of a wave's frequency of a moving individual to the relation of the wave's source. With the fetal doppler monitor, the sound of the unborn baby's heartbeat can be heard through either earpieces attached to the monitor or through an audio port so everyone can share in the results. Instead of using an acoustic fetal stethoscope, a baby heartbeat monitor allows other people than those using the unit to hear the baby's fetal heart rate. This baby monitor was originally intended to be used by healthcare professionals, but has recently gained popularity in use by expectant mothers.

Even though fetal heart rates can be detected by the fifth week of pregnancy the fetal doppler monitor may not be able to accurately detect your baby's heart rate until about the twelfth week of pregnancy. This baby monitor can help in detecting potential fetal complications such as diseases and infections; including placental diseases, cord compression, and hypo-tension.

The use of a baby heartbeat monitor is advantageous because it requires little training, while not requiring a healthcare professional's participation, as well as not limiting the mother's movement while being used.

By providing a mother peace of mind knowing their child's development is proceeding normally, baby heartbeat monitors have increased in home usage (either purchased or leased) in recent years. These home units can even be used to record your baby's heartbeat sounds so that you can download them onto a computer to save and share.

The development of a baby is an amazing experience to have. With the technological advancements available today, many mothers to be will find it easy to have peace of mind about their pregnancy and baby.