For some families, listening to the baby’s heartbeat at home will provide reassurance between prenatal appointments. For others, it’s merely a way of bonding with the baby. Children and partners often love this and look forward to it. Plus, it’s easy enough for even a small child to do. Learn more about how to safely listen to your baby’s heartbeat at home.
How to Hear to Your Baby’s Heartbeat
Here is a quick look at the most common devices that you can use to try to listen to your baby’s heartbeat during your pregnancy without a doppler.
StethoscopeMobile appsFetoscopePinard hornAmplifiers
Your doctor can also use medical devices, such as a fetal doppler or other professional monitoring equipment like ultrasound. While fetal dopplers can be purchased for home use, this is not recommended.
Stethoscope
The stethoscope is a common medical tool used to amplify internal noises, especially for the heart and lungs. This trusty device is also good for listening to babies in utero. You can hear the baby’s heartbeat at about 18 to 20 weeks, depending on factors like the pregnant person’s weight, the baby’s position, and the location of the placenta. You can purchase a stethoscope at most drugstores, many uniform stores that cater to medical personnel, or any medical supply store. How well you can hear with it varies widely with the quality of the product. Interestingly, many practitioners, doctors, and midwives have lost the skill of using a normal stethoscope for this purpose as technology has advanced.
Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Apps
There are numerous fetal heart rate monitoring apps now available that use your cell phone’s microphone to amplify the sound of your baby’s heartbeat. However, while you might have success with some of these apps, use caution. Many of them have been found to have less than stellar accuracy—or even play back fake heartbeat sounds. For example, one 2019 study tested 22 apps and none of them could detect a heartbeat at all. This is why it is rarely recommended to use these apps as they are likely to offer inaccurate results and cause unneeded stress in the process.
Fetoscope
The fetoscope is the modern combination of the stethoscope and the Pinard horn. It is designed to be used on pregnant people and uses the practitioner’s forehead to conduct sound, which often gives better results. It does not use ultrasound. There are a couple of different varieties of fetoscopes, including some that fit over the head for ease of use for the practitioner. It has a more modern look, being made of metal and plastic. Some practitioners like to use this at every visit starting from week 12, though many won’t hear the heartbeat that early. Using this device takes skill, but experienced practitioners can differentiate what they are listening to. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat sounds like a watch under a pillow, while the placenta produces more of a whooshing sound.
Pinard Horn
The Pinard horn, made out of wood, is an older fetal listening device. Its flat end is placed on the ear of the practitioner while the horn part is used to move around the pregnant mother’s abdomen. This is used to listen directly to the baby through the mother’s body with no use of electricity or power. The Pinard horn can be used from about 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is also no longer as commonly used at prenatal care appointments.
Fetal Doppler
The fetal Doppler uses ultrasound technology to bounce sound waves off the baby and return a representation of the fetal heartbeat. Some specialized devices can be used as early as eight weeks, though 12 weeks into pregnancy is a more normal time frame. The sound is usually that of galloping horses. Most prenatal care appointments will use the Doppler. This device can be used by doctors or midwives.
Fetal Monitor
The fetal monitor is sometimes used in prenatal care, but it’s more common for practitioners to use it for late pregnancy fetal surveillance, like during the non-stress test or during labor. It also has the ability to monitor contractions. The monitor can be used with an external monitor or with an internal fetal monitor. It uses ultrasound technology and requires someone to stay with the machine while it operates. Your doctor or midwife may have an old electronic fetal monitoring machine in their office simply to do these tests.
Is Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Safe?
This is a complicated question. Using the stethoscope, fetoscope, or Pinard horn poses no physical risks. A home fetal Doppler can potentially cause harm if overused, and it is not recommended by the FDA . The use of a fetal monitor is typically confined to the hospital or medical practice setting. With any of these tools, there is a potential risk of emotional or psychological harm. This comes into play when you don’t hear the baby’s heartbeat or when it is difficult to find. This may seem innocuous, but it can cause undue stress, which is not good for you in pregnancy.
A Word From Verywell
Listening to your baby’s heartbeat can be comforting for many expectant parents. Sometimes you may want to try to listen to your baby between prenatal care visits. Talk to your practitioner about the safety and accuracy of the methods available so that you don’t cause yourself more anxiety than necessary. There was an error. Please try again.
