Hopeful Parents Really Need To Know The potential Risks They Run With Off The Shelf Technology!

This appeared last week:

Fetal heart monitors implicated in stillbirths, neonatal death

By Kate Aubusson

August 29, 2022 — 5.00am

The medical watchdog is investigating the dangers of at-home fetal heart monitors following three stillbirths and one neonatal death linked to the devices.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will consider banning handheld fetal dopplers for personal use after they were linked to multiple cases of pregnant women being “falsely reassured” that their unborn baby had a healthy heartbeat, leading to delays in seeking medical attention.

Health authorities reported three stillbirths and one early neonatal death to the TGA in the past 12 months, prompting a review of the device’s safety, benefits and harms.

“While the deaths may not have been avoidable, the use of home fetal dopplers delayed the women’s presentation for timely review by providing false reassurance about their baby’s wellbeing,” the TGA said in a statement.

“Without training, the sounds detected from the mother or placenta could easily be misinterpreted as the fetal heartbeat, providing potentially inaccurate reassurance.”

There were also reported cases where parents couldn’t find a fetal heartbeat using the devices, causing unnecessary panic, the TGA said.

Fetal dopplers - traditionally used by doctors and midwives - have become increasingly popular among parents wanting to listen to the heartbeat of their babies at home, costing between $60 and $200 online and in-store maternity, pharmacy and electronics retailers including Amazon, Target and Harvey Norman.

Use of the at-home devices drew worldwide scrutiny in 2009 after two UK anaesthetists raised the alarm in an article in the British Medical Journal.

It described the case of a 34-year-old woman who was 38 weeks pregnant when she noticed a decrease in fewer fetal movements on a Friday, but she reassured herself that the baby was okay by using her doppler to listen to what she thought was the fetal heartbeat over the weekend.

When she presented to her maternity ward on the Monday an urgent ultrasound showed the baby had died.

Lots more here:

https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/fetal-heart-monitors-implicated-in-stillbirths-neonatal-death-20220825-p5bcm1.html

It is hard to add anything to this rather that make people aware of the cautionary tale presented here:

David.