A baby Doppler is a non-invasive monitoring device which can be used for babies before delivery. This device is especially designed to monitor fetal heart rate. Fetal heart rate assessment is a very effective and useful way to evaluate the fetal condition by simply identifying the fetal heart rate patterns. Nowadays, there are several ways to monitor a baby’s heart rate before birth, and an electronic fetal monitor is one of them. These baby heart monitors are usually used in labor and it is able to measure the fetal heart rate while continuously recording it in graphical form. Another way of fetal monitoring is with the aid of a special kind of stethoscope to measure the baby’s heartbeat. This type of fetoscope is often used after about thirty weeks of gestation.

An internal fetal monitoring of the fetal heart rate is considered as an invasive procedure. Using a spiral electrode, it will be attached to the baby’s scalp to calculate and record its fetal heart rate. Using a handheld ultrasound baby Doppler is another way to detect and measure the fetal heart rate. This baby Doppler makes use of the Principle of Doppler Effect when recording and measuring the fetal heart rate through external non-invasive procedure. The baby Doppler works by emitting and receiving ultrasound waves and emitting the shift in wavelength and frequency.

An ultrasonic Doppler is equipped with 3MHz or 2MHz probe which is waterproof. The probe with a higher frequency can produce shorter wavelengths compared to the ones with lower frequency. Millions of test results have proven that a 3MHz probe works better compared to a lower frequency probe during pregnancy. But for overweight expecting mothers, a 2MHz probe works better instead of the one with higher frequency.

An ultrasonic baby Doppler provides the future mother a safe method to hear the fetal heart rate. Using this device is proven to be comfortable and convenient. Pregnant women will be asked to lie down exposing their abdomen. A certain amount of ultrasonic gel is used to grease the probe. This gel is used to protect the probe and to lessen static and popping sounds during the course of the examination. The fetal heart rate can be normally detected from 8 to 12 weeks in pregnant women. The baby Doppler can detect placental sounds and maternal sounds coming from the sound of the blood flow of the expecting mothers. A fetal heart rate’s normal range is between 120BPM to 180BPM, and that is usually the average. When the fetal heart rate reaches as high as 190, there is no need to worry as this is a normal phenomenon, and the data may vary within reasonable ranges. Calculating the fetal heart rate is easy. Expecting mothers can do this by setting and counting any interval of time and multiplying that number to get the baby’s fetal heart rate.

Nowadays, more and more expecting parents choose to rent or purchase a reliable and FDA approved ultrasound baby Doppler so that they can monitor their baby’s heart rate at home. If you are not familiar or you do not know how a baby Doppler works, it is wise to consult your health care provider for more information.