Prenatal heart monitors
Kerri Stalton

All pregnant women are anxious about the little life growing within them. Regardless of whether it is the first or fifth, a pregnancy is fraught with anxiety. There was a time when an expecting mother had to wait for her prenatal check-up to listen to her baby's heart. The wait between two appointments can drive you out of your mind. This is particularly excruciating for women who have experienced miscarriages or complications in earlier pregnancies. But now you can buy yourself a little peace of mind by getting your own prenatal heart monitor.
The first time a woman hears her baby's heart is really special. It's an experience you can't describe. The health provider uses a device known as a fetal heart rate monitor to enable the mother to hear her baby's heartbeat. After a gel or oily solution is spread on the belly, a probe is gently moved around until the baby's heartbeat has been located. A fetal Doppler, as it is otherwise called, uses a probe to detect the high frequency sound waves that are emitted when the baby's heart beats. Once the heartbeats are detected, the probe sends the waves to the Doppler, which subsequently amplifies the sound for the parent to hear. The gel or oil is spread because the sound waves cannot be heard under normal conditions.
A heart rate monitor at home: A fetal monitor allows you to listen to your precious baby any time you feel like it. You can hear the heart beat as early as eight weeks into the pregnancy. It is now possible to share the thrill with your family and friends, from within the privacy of your home.
Fetal heart rate monitors are easy to use. Most home instruments are battery operated. Place the probe just above the pubic bone and tilt it at different angles until you can hear the heartbeat. Prenatal monitors do not place any stress on your baby. So you can use them without fear. Recent models also allow you to record your baby's heartbeat. If you are computer savvy, you can download the recorded sounds on to your computer and email it to all who may be interested.
It is fairly easy to read a fetal monitor. In the digital model, the heart rate will be displayed on the screen. If the heart rate is not displayed, all you have to do is count the number of beats in 10 seconds. Multiply this by six to get the number of times the heart is beating in a minute.
Mothers are always anxious about their fetuses. There are days when you feel very little to almost no movement in the womb, and then you worry about the worst. Sometimes, such an experience is serious enough to trigger a false alarm and have you rushing to the hospital. The Doppler informs you of the happenings within your stomach, thus taking the guesswork out of your pregnancy.
Owning your own monitor can be quite expensive though. A cheaper option would be to rent one. Considering that your need for the monitor is fairly temporary, renting seems to be a better option. Whatever you decide, the apparatus you choose must have FDA approval.
If you do decide to purchase or rent a monitor don't use it as a replacement for regular pre-natal visits with your health care practitioner. Those visits are very important to help ensure the health of the mother and the baby.