Delux prenatal heart listening system

[SixtiesChild]

I have noticed that K-mart has advertised in their catalogue, a Delux prenatal heart listening system. I presume it is similar to a doppler.
Has anyone purchased this product and found that it works?

[JanetF]

I have serious concerns about these products. Doppler is still u/s and the longterm effects are not really known although many researchers hold concerns about what prolonged u/s does to babies. If you're feeling so nervous about pregnancy that you're looking for this constant reassurance, there are many healthier and safer ways to process those emotions. Pregnancy for most women is a perfectly normal, healthy part of their wellness cycle. If you've had previously poor outcomes, of course this is more complex for you, but even so using the product doesn't actually keep your baby alive and does expose them to a lot of stuff that's not beneficial. Maybe you need to look at those issues too? I hope you're having a lovely healthy pregnancy, and if not, that you get some good IRL support without having to buy gadgets to reassure you *hugs*

[nemosmum]

I have serious concerns about these products. Doppler is still u/s and the longterm effects are not really known although many researchers hold concerns about what prolonged u/s does to babies.
but even so using the product doesn't actually keep your baby alive and does expose them to a lot of stuff that's not beneficial.

Hi J Ive never heard a doppler was dangerous and I certainly wasnt told that when I went to my pre natal appointments and the midwives/docs would use them?
What kind of dangerous things are we talking about and why dont they inform women before they use them? Any info appreciated

[JanetF]

Dopplers aren't so bad because they're smaller but one that is used in the home every day, or maybe several times a day, has not been tested for safety at that high a usage and I like to err on the side of caution, yk? We do know some things about u/s however.

Newnham, J.P., Evans, S.F., Michael, C.A., Stanley, F.J., & Landau, L. I. (1993). Effects of Frequent Ultrasound During Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Lancet, 342(Oct.9), 887-891.

A study of over 1400 women in Perth, Western Australia compared pregnant mothers who had ultrasound only once during gestation with mothers who had five monthly ultrasounds from 18 weeks to 38 weeks. They found significantly higher intrauterine growth restriction in the intensive ultrasound group. These mothers gave birth to lower weight babies.

The researchers concluded that prenatal ultrasound imaging and Doppler flow exams should be restricted to clinically necessary situations. This recommendation comes at a time when ultrasound during prenatal visits has become increasingly popular and serves as a kind of entertainment feature of office check-up visits.


Campbell, J.D., Elford, R.W. & Brant, R.F. (1993). Case-Controlled Study of Prenatal Ultrasound Exposure in Children with Delayed Speech. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 149(10), 1435-1440.

Delayed speech is not a pathological or organic syndrome but developmentally defined symptom complex. Clinicians have noted an increased incidence of delayed speech in pediatric patients.

This is a matched-case control study of 72 children 2 to 8 years old presenting with delayed speech of unknown cause. The children were measured for articulation, language comprehension, language production, meta-linguisticskills, and verbal memory. When checked for ultrasound exposure, the speech-delayed children were about twice as likely to have been exposed to ultrasound than the matched controls.

The authors believe that delayed speech is a sensitive measure reflecting sub-optimal conditions for development. If ultrasound can cause developmental delays, the authors are concerned about the routine use of ultrasound and they warn against it.


Devi, P.U., Suresh, R., & Hande, M.P. (1995). Effect of fetal exposure to ultrasound on the behavior of the adult mouse. Radiat Res (QMP), 141(3), 314-7.

Pregnant Swiss albino mice were exposed to diagnostic ultrasound. There were significant alterations in behavior in all three exposed groups as revealed by the decreased locomotor and exploratory activity and the increase in the number of trials needed for learning. These results indicate that ultrasound exposure during the early fetal period can impair brain function in the adult mouse.


Hande, M.P., & Devi, P.U. (1995). Teratogenic effects of repeated exposures to X-rays and/or ultrasound in mice. Neurotoxicol Teratol (NAT), 17(2), 179-88.

Pregnant Swiss mice were exposed to ultrasound, x-rays, and combinations of the two. Effects on prenatal development, postnatal growth and adult behavior were studied. U + U group showed an increase in percent growth retarded fetuses. The postnatal mortality was significantly higher only in the U + U group. In the X + U group, the exploratory activity was affected at 6 months of age. There was a significant change in the locomotor activity with a reduction in the total activity as 3 and 6 months of age in the U + U group. Latency in learning capacity was also noticed in this group. The results indicate that repeated exposures to ultrasound or its combination with X-rays could be detrimental to the embryonic development and can impair adult brain function when administered at certain stages of organogenesis.

Ultrasound also has some very serious emotional and psychosocial side effects.

When an ultrasound is done, and the results are questionable, it can be an emotional rollarcoaster. Ultrasound technicians are wrong as often as they are right, and when a family is told that their unborn baby has some kind of defect, they will spend the rest of the pregnancy worrying, crying, and in some cases, may abort the baby because they are assured it has an abnormality.

Click Here to read an article called "Mother Rails Against Ultrasound" which chronicles one family's terrible experience with the inaccuracy of this test. http://gentlebirth.org/archives/screen.html In 1993, the results of the largest study ever done on ultrasound were published. It was called the RADIUS study. The original results were reported in these publications if you would like to get a copy of the study and read it for yourself.

Ewigman, B., Crane, J.P., Frigoletto, F.D., et al. Impact of prenatal ultrasound screening on perinatal outcome. N Engl J Med 1993 Sept 16;329:821-7.

LeFevre, M., Bain, R., Ewigman, B., et al. A randomized trial of prenatal ultrasound screening: Impact on maternal management and outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1993 Sept 15;169:483-9.


Basically, the study, the largest of its kind to date, states that routine ultrasound does not benefit mothers or babies in terms of pregnancy outcome. It did not reduce the number of infant or maternal deaths, and it did not lead to better care for the newborn. The only thing it did was expose the families to increased cost and risk.

Try these too.
http://www.radmid.demon.co.uk/scans.htm#safe
http://www.aims.org.uk/Journal/Vol16No4/ultrasound.htm
http://www.aims.org.uk/Journal/Vol11No4/ultra2.htm
http://www.sarahjbuckley.com/article...ound-scans.htm

[nemosmum]

WOW I got the shivers reading all the things u/s can effect, we did three ultrasounds (11weeks,18wks and at 30 wks) we obviously didnt know they were harmful.
DS (thankgoodness) weighed in at 4.4kg and was 2 weeks late, his also saying 2 word sentences at the moment (which is in his normal age range for a 15months old)
However as Im an E.C teacher I see alot of children with speech delay and it makes you wonder if it could have been avoided by limiting u/s usage.

Thanks J