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Category: Is It Safe?

Asked by Ambience

Q: Is ultrasound safe from home dopplers?

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasound_risks.asp

I've been reading various articles including the one above. My home doppler emits a frequency of 3 mhz- that's 3000khz.

Ultrasound is anything above 20khz.

That makes me think my ultrasound sonoline device is emitting a much higher frequency than the ones used in hospital.

I enjoyed using my doppler, but i did get the sense baby was trying to move away from it. I also got a kind of intuition that baby didn't like it- and felt unhappy about it. I would be happy to use daily if i knew it was safe.

Some of the studies on animals show effects of ultrasound to be damaging. I firmly believe we are made up in the same way as animals biologically and that this should be an indicator of how ultrasound effects humans.

I also do not believe in animal testing however and can also see the results may often not be transferable. On the other hand i wouldn't want to use something on my body that has showed evidence of harm.

This question was asked Sep. 5, 2013 1:01pm
Category: Is It Safe?

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Answers (9)

Answered by Ambience - Sep. 7, 2013 10:46am

Thanks i think i need to look into this brand. Sorry if i offended anyone with the topic. I was just abit concerned brandwise- if i'd have bought a sonoline brand i would have been happy as this seems to be one of the better dopplers x

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Answered by jkim80 - Sep. 6, 2013 7:19pm

I am high risk so use my Doppler once every few days to one a week just long enough to find the heartbeat & confirm a healthy rate, my placenta is also on the front making it much harder for me to feel movement. There is controversy over home Doppler because there isn't really any studies to tell us the effects of frequent use, I keep my use as infrequent as possible for my peace of mind & as short as possible each time(always less than 5 minutes). Mine is a Bistos BT-200 HIi-bebe which is FDA approved and CE approved (European healthy and safety) and advertised as medical grade.
All any of use can do is research a& decide for ourselves what we feel is best for us & our baby given our specific circumstances. I did the same procedure during my first pregnancy & my son is a happy healthy three year old now with no known health problems so I am following the same pattern this time, but that is my choice. I wish you luck in deciding what is right for you :) have a hh9m

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Answered by kelliers - Sep. 5, 2013 6:51pm

It sounds like you've done your research. This is a touchy topic on here-the best you can do is look at all the pros and cons and decide for yourself! We decided not to after looking at some articles and talking to our reproductive endo and OB but for some they have good reasons for wanting one and use it responsibly.

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Answered by Ambience - Sep. 5, 2013 6:27pm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonoline-Fetal-Doppler-BackLit-Display/dp/B005FLWYE4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1378405634&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=sonoline+b+contect

This even. I think it's the same thing. It looks like the one from Sonoline but i'm wondering if it is as safe.

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Answered by Ambience - Sep. 5, 2013 6:26pm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonoline-Fetal-Doppler-BackLit-Display/dp/B005FLWYE4

This is the one i bought.

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Answered by Ambience - Sep. 5, 2013 6:25pm

Thankyou for your thoughts- i appreciate the use of ultrasound. I have just been worried about it. I am of the mind i would rather use it to help.

I have just been concerned over alot of the reading i've done lately that has been quite negative about it.

I have bought the sonoline b by contec off amazon and i'm slightly worried because of it coming from China and not having any health guarantees and it isn't the brand Sononline. I'm not sure if this makes a different or if the dopplers are all the same thing with the same safety levels etc.

Does anyone know either way?

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Answered by ashleydshey - Sep. 5, 2013 5:55pm

Everything in life offers some risk. I don't think that millions of obgyn or midwifes would use devices that in any way harmed an unborn child. You can find negative and positive feedback on any subject over the internet. I am in the medical field and I believe wholeheartedly that these devises pose way more good than risk or threat. These devises have saved many many unborn babies. If your pregnancy is low risk and you believe that it may endanger your child, then maybe the benefits of the devises are not for you. However, not everyone has a low risk pregnancy and these articles may in fact give them a false sense that their practitioner is in some way failing them. In this instance I guess the phrase to each his own is relevant. I wish you ladies the best of luck with your pregnancies and I hope you both find piece of mind over this matter.

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Answered by Bostonmama08 - Sep. 5, 2013 4:49pm

It's tough to read this because of my high risk status, I have to have an ultrasound every week to monitor my blood clot in the uterus. I guess I'll just have to live with whatever happens...but I can't not have these check-ups on myself and the baby.

I use a home fetal doppler (Sonoline B) once every other day for 1-2 minutes tops. I only check for the heartbeat and once I find it....I shut off the machine. Since I only use mine for peace of mind, it only takes a minute or less to get that feeling once the heartbeat is found.

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Answered by Ambience - Sep. 5, 2013 1:13pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasound

Processing and power

High-power applications of ultrasound often use frequencies between 20 kHz and a few hundred kHz. Intensities can be very high; above 10 watts per square centimeter, cavitation can be inducted in liquid media, and some applications use up to 1000 watts per square centimeter. Such high intensities can induce chemical changes or produce significant effects by direct mechanical action, and can inactivate harmful microrganisms.[22]
Biomedical applications
Main article: therapeutic ultrasound
Ultrasound also has therapeutic applications, which can be highly beneficial when used with dosage precautions[32] Relatively high power ultrasound can break up stony deposits or tissue, accelerate the effect of drugs in a targeted area, assist in the measurement of the elastic properties of tissue, and can be used to sort cells or small particles for research.

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