Buying a Doppler in 2025? Read This First — A Midwife’s Hands-On Test of the Best At-Home Fetal Doppler

A fetal heart monitor is a handheld device used to listen to a baby’s heartbeat. The doppler probe emits high-frequency sound waves that penetrate your skin and tissue to reach the baby. Once the waves encounter movement, like a beating heart, the sound wave bounces back to the device, translating it into an auditory signal. To ensure safety, at-home dopplers use low emission ultrasound technology. Gels or oil is used to pick up the sound-wave better.

Medical experts recommend that you do not use a fetal doppler until the 12th week of pregnancy. However, you might not hear the heartbeat until the 14th-16th week. The specific time may vary depending on the woman, but using it too early and not detecting anything causes unnecessary anxiety. This is why it’s recommended to wait till 12 weeks which is when I started to use mine, personally.

All pregnancy contains a certain amount of risk. Some women with chronic conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and blood disorders are susceptible to a high-risk pregnancy. This doesn’t mean that they won’t deliver a healthy baby but being cautious is necessary.

One of the most significant benefits of fetal heart rate monitoring is that it allows you to monitor your pregnancy from the comfort of your own home. It also gives the parents a remarkable opportunity to bond with their little ones before they are born.

Fetal dopplers are used by medical professionals every day to detect the heartbeats of babies in the womb. At-home fetal dopplers work at a 40 times lower intensity than the waves emitted from an ultrasound machine you’d find at a doctor’s office.

The one common concern you’ll find regarding fetal dopplers is thermal risks— if you hold the device at a particular spot for a very long time, the tissue will heat up. This risk can be minimized and avoided by using the device sparingly (I only used it a handful of times throughout my pregnancy) and not holding the transducer at one spot for too long (I’d turn it off if I didn’t find the heartbeat in minute, then try again another time).

Also, I recommend connecting with your baby in other ways too, like feeling the baby’s kicks and movements. I did this towards the end of my pregnancy. This way you won’t be over-reliant on this device, since frequent use isn’t recommended.

This depends on the device, but typically the measurements are reliable but shouldn’t be used as a replacement for regular ultrasound appointments or doctor visits. NewBorn fetal doppler offers the highest accuracy with ± 1 BPM (for reference, industry-average is  ± 2 BPM).

Keep in mind that a baby’s heartbeat is much faster than an adult’s.

If you’re in your first trimester and can’t hear your baby’s heartbeat, don’t worry. Dopplers, especially at-home types, can’t reliably detect a baby’s heartbeat until 12 weeks.

The average fetal heart rate is between 110-160 beats per minute and can vary by 5-25 beats per minute. BPM changes based on whether the baby is sleeping, or moving, and also depending on your uterus’s conditions. An abnormal heartbeat may signify that the baby isn’t getting enough oxygen or has another issue.

If your doctor is concerned about your baby’s heartbeat, they may recommend a fetal echocardiogram. This is a safe, non-invasive test that gives a detailed picture of your baby’s heart. It can help see if and what kind of irregular heartbeat (or arrhythmia) your baby may have so it can get the right treatment early.

Although reliable, this device does notreplace ultrasound appointments or doctor visits. They shouldn’t be singularly relied upon for pregnancy reassurance, but it’s a great tool to have for checking in once-in-a-while or for bonding with your unborn baby. Again, I want to mention that this device cannot detect any health issues.

Yes, using an ultrasound gel is necessary, and most reputable doppler providers will offer gel for free with your purchase. The gel is usually a combination of water and a solvent called propylene glycol. It acts as a lubricant that seals the bond between the probe and the womb, eliminates extra air, and helps the sound travel better so the probe can pick it up accurately.

The device doesn’t emit any harmful radiation and is safe for both the mother and the baby.

I recommend reading and following the instructions provided in the manual that you receive with your purchase. That said, here’s a general overview of how to use a fetal doppler:

• Get in a reclining position, or lay down flat on your back.
• Turn on your doppler, and adjust its volume. Plugin the earphones if needed.
• Apply the ultrasound gel across your lower abdomen (if you purchase Newborn’s Fetal Doppler, you only have to place the gel on the probe, not your stomach)
• Place the doppler at the lower abdomen and slowly move it upwards.
• Cover different areas and try different device positions till you find the baby’s heartbeat (the Newborn’s Fetal Doppler comes with a handy chart that shows the optimal points to try based on your trimester. We find this very useful).
• Once finished, clean the device and your abdomen with a dry cloth.

Again, regardless of which you choose, don’t use this device every day and only use it for minimal periods of time. If you can’t find the heartbeat within one or two minutes, stop trying. Also, turn off the device once the baby starts moving.

There’s a rare chance that you’re listening to two heartbeats because there are two babies. But it’s more likely that you’re hearing the same heartbeat a few inches apart. If this happens, don’t be alarmed but get an ultrasound done for an accurate measurement.