This type of article just pisses me off. In total it states that home fetal monitors may be dangerous because women receive false assurance that everything is ok and don't seek medical attention.
Any woman who has dealt with a high-risk pregnancy can tell you that 99% of the time that you call the doctor/midwife/receptionist/IF clinic with 'concern's they will tell you to wait and call back in a day ... or two ... or longer ... and that's even presuming you can get in touch with anyone.
I know. I had a baby who refused to kick. For weeks and weeks and weeks. And every 48 hours when I'd call to check in the midwife would tell me to call back 'if there was no movement in 48 hours' ... repeated ad nauseum throughout my entire honeymoon. For the record, within 2 minutes of my feeling movement JD could also feel it (and the placenta was not in a weird position - it was checked many times). And every new doctor/nurse/student in the GD clinic would tell me to call if I couldn't get a kick count of 10 by 10 am. I never got a kick count of ten when pregnant with the fusspot. Not one single day.
I think not getting a fetal monitor was one of my biggest regrets. I wasted so many, many hours not just stressing but waiting on hold and endlessly repeating my address and callback number and insurance info. Should I ever have the chance to be pregnant again, I"ll be ordering one right after my beta (I never did get a beta last time either ...)
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If I didn't have the home doppler to whip out my OB office would probably file a court order against me for stalking. Especially since I do have the anterior placenta (thereby making kicks unlikely to be felt until 23+ weeks).
I agree that if you don't knw what to listen for, or where, it could be confusing, though.
While a monitor may be difficult to use to the degree that women find their own heartbeat and presume the infant to be safe when it is not, I'm with you in realizing that medical professionals are notoriously blasé toward pregnant women, frequently treating their very real concerns as rantings of an oversensitive, hysterical, incapable-of-reason hypochondriac type of person. Seriously. I brought up the cramping I'd been experiencing to my doctor, and his response was "and????" And I understand that cramping is normal, and that unless there's blood, it's probably not a big deal, it would have been nice to hear something that acknowledged the very real concern I had, rather than acting dismissively.
I'm torn on whether to rent a doppler. I'll know more on Tuesday about the viability of twin B and that may color my ultimate decision (since I understand that hearing a heartbeat becomes immensely more difficult with two). And honestly, while it may provide some peace of mind, were a heart to ever actually cease to beat, there's very little they can do anyway.
I don't know. I have been really thinking about this issue, since I seem to have proven to myself that I am incredibly, ridiculously impatient as it comes to waiting for doctors to decide that I'm worthy of another ultrasound. Seriously. You send someone off with the words, "It might be twins. It might not be. Baby B doesn't look good. Come back in two weeks."? WHO on EARTH thinks that's a nice thing to do to someone in early pregnancy? Especially when your office isn't particularly busy and can easily fit you in almost any day... grrr.
Oh, well. I guess tuesday will be here soon enough...
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