Movements Matter: A warning against home heartbeat Dopplers for monitoring babies' health

Feeling a baby move during pregnancy is a sign that they are well. If the baby moves less, this can be an important warning sign that the baby is not well. 

Following reports from our team at the Tommy's Stillbirth Research Centre that women are reporting to maternity services too late with tragic consequences, we're urging expectant parents to seek advice from a medical professional immediately if they notice any changes in their baby’s movement.

Hand-held Dopplers are small devices that send out high-frequency ultrasound waves and claim to monitor a baby’s heartbeat in the womb.

Tommy’s strongly advises against their use by mothers at home as they are unsafe and inaccurate: it is extremely easy to confuse a baby's heartbeat with that of its mother, or with the pulsations within the placenta.  

Hearing a heartbeat is not a reliable way to tell if the baby is well. Monitoring changes in movements and reporting any reduction immediately is the best way to be safe. 

Professor Alexander Heazell, Director of the Tommy's Stillbirth Research Centre at the University of Manchester, has found that more women and birthing people are coming into hospital too late after reduced fetal movements. 

Sadly, recently, two babies had died by the time their mothers were seen by a medical team.

Professor Heazell says:

There’s little regulation for the development, testing and marketing of apps and devices sold for home use and it’s hugely concerning to find some people rely on them for the safety of their baby. 

Even if you detect a heartbeat it does not mean that a baby is necessarily well. It is important that if you are concerned about your baby’s wellbeing that you act as quickly as possible if you notice a change.

Tommy’s midwifery manager Amina Hatia says: "If you’re worried about your baby or notice a change in your baby's movements, contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately, whatever time of day or night it is. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even through strikes. 

"Please don’t be tempted to use and rely on these home devices, it is dangerous to do so. Only a trained health professional can see if your baby is okay. 

"If you’ve had a check-up and then your baby's movements have become reduced again, don't hesitate to call again. No matter how many times this happens, always seek medical advice."

Charities like Tommy’s and Kicks Count have spent years working to reduce the UK's high stillbirth and neonatal death rate by raising awareness of baby movements. By encouraging mothers to report any change in movement immediately, it is estimated that a third of stillbirths could be prevented.

We're continuing to support the Kicks Count campaign to ban the sale of dopplers for home use.

Elizabeth Hutton, Kicks Count Chief Executive says: "The false reassurance using Dopplers gives is our concern. If you saw a person collapsed in the street would you check their pulse and walk away? No, you’d probably call an ambulance because this person is clearly unwell, even though they have a heartbeat. It is the same with a baby.

"If a baby’s movements change, it can be a sign that they are unwell. All a heartbeat tells you is the baby is currently alive, which is the only time something can be done to help a baby in distress. If you wait until you can’t find a heartbeat it’s too late. Picking up the fetal heartbeat is a snapshot in time – 5 minutes later the heart can stop. It is so important that mums do not use the presence of a heartbeat as a sign their baby is well."

More information about your baby's movements during pregnancy