Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Jan
21
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“We Aren’t Trained In How To Use A Fetoscope In Medical School…”
“We aren’t trained in how to use a fetoscope in medical school. They don’t work. I don’t even own one here in my office.” – OB to mother who expressed concern at having to use ultrasound at every visit to check fetal heart tones.
There are 29 comments to this post.
Erica Douglas had this to say,
Jan 21, 2012 @ 2:39 pm (Quote)
Well, I wasn’t ‘trained’ to use email when I was in school, but since it comes in awfully handy at work, I somehow managed to figure it out. You could LEARN to use a fetoscope, you know, Doc. Learning shouldn’t stop when you get your diploma!
[Reply]
This one doesn’t surprise me at all. Fetoscopes are very low tech and as a general rule, doctors don’t like low tech. I’ve never met an OB that owns one. They do take some skill, to be sure, but they certainly aren’t difficult to use!
[Reply]
Jane Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:17 pm (Quote)
Plus doctors are told there are no dangers whatsoever to ultrasound, so why would they want to learn how to use a lower-tech device that gives less information?
(Less information in that it doesn’t count the BPMs for you; you have to use a watch and count for yourself.)
BTW, I was able to find my own baby’s heartbeat with a fetoscope, so it can’t be that hard for a doctor to use. 
[Reply]
PortlandMama had this to say,
Jan 21, 2012 @ 3:11 pm (Quote)
The clinic I go to uses doppler, but I wanted to use a fetoscope. My CNM went out of her way to track one down from a midwife friend and brings it to all of my visits. She is wonderful!
That being said, how hard can it be to use one? If you are trained to use a stethoscope, it doesn’t seem like it would take too much more brain power to figure out a fetoscope.
[Reply]
Tee Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:27 pm (Quote)
Not as easy as it sounds! The biggest trick with a fetoscope is distinguishing between the heartbeat, placenta and cord. (I was a midwife before becoming disabled.) Once you learn how to use it, it’s fairly easy. But it is a learned skill!
[Reply]
Kat Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 8:29 pm (Quote)
Well, sure it’s a learned skill… but speaking for myself, I mastered it in about ten minutes, on my own bed in my bedroom. Took my hubby about five minutes to master this skill.
Seriously, you put the fetoscope on the belly where you feel the baby’s back. Then you listen for a sound like a watch ticking under a pillow. It’s pretty distinctive.
I listened every day from 22 weeks on with my 6th pregnancy. And *I don’t even have a college degree* but I was able to figure it out.
I think the issue is not so much skill as that it’s low tech, and most doctors prefer things that have more shiny bells and whistles!
[Reply]
Tee Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 9:00 pm (Quote)
No, I never meant to imply that doctor’s don’t have the skill to use one. Sorry if my comment came across that way. My point was just that not everybody realizes that you have to distinguish between the three different things and they all sound similar. If you’re not sure of what you are listening for, it is very easy to confuse the placenta with the heart tones.
[Reply]
Okay… Then can you use a Dopplar instead?
My insurance will NOT cover an U/S EVERY visit.
[Reply]
kim Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:32 pm (Quote)
A Dopplar is ultrasound. In fact it is continuous u/s and not intermittent like a visual u/s, so there is actually more u/s exposure.
[Reply]
Bazile Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:34 pm (Quote)
The handheld Dopplers they use actually use u/s waves to measure the heart rate, so that’s probably the OP’s issue.
[Reply]
Jenny Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:40 pm (Quote)
But the doppler is also ultrasound, so if you’re worried about the effects US might have on the baby that’s no good either.
[Reply]
Kristin Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 4:16 pm (Quote)
Is it the same type of U/S they use to get a visual picture of the baby? I thought it was a microphone of some type…
Gosh, now I feel a bit ignorant on dopplars, best read up on them before I have another baby…
[Reply]
Carmen Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 pm (Quote)
They are stronger than visual ultrasound. A lot of “dopplers” you get online or in stores made for home use are actually amplifiers which is why it takes longer in pregnancy to hear the baby’s heartbeat but the ones professionals use that are $300+ are ultrasound.
[Reply]
Tee Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 4:32 pm (Quote)
No need to feel ignorant, Kristin. You’re not the first woman that I’ve heard of that doesn’t realize that a dopplar uses ultrasound waves! Just read up on them, yes. They aren’t harmful in small doses but I wouldn’t use one every month if a fetascope is available! I found that the Moms I worked with enjoyed hearing their baby’s heart beat, which was much easier for them to hear with a dopplar. So yes, we used one on occasion. But a fetascope is better if used frequently.
[Reply]
Yeah, when I asked the OB for my 2nd pregnancy if they had a fetoscope in the office she looked at me like I was speaking latin for a long moment then tenatively said “I don’t think they make those anymore.” *rolls eyes* I informed her they certainly did.
[Reply]
The first and third sentences of this quote wouldn’t set off any alarm bells, but the second most certainly would.
- I don’t know how to use fetoscopes, therefore they don’t work.
- I don’t know how to assist normal childbirth, therefore it’s dangerous and improper.
- I am not aware that episiotomy increases the risk of fourth-degree tears, therefore it doesn’t.
Etc. It’s a dangerous attitude that anything you don’t understand can’t possibly be worthwhile.
[Reply]
They cost $20. Admittedly, if you’ve never used one, you likely won’t be able to–talking to a midwife friend, she said that they’re not the easiest things and some people can use them with no problem, others can’t get the hang of it. Plus, they don’t even work until past 20 weeks on most moms, so… But still, this sucks.
[Reply]
I’m the first of my midwife’s clients to only want a fetoscope used so she’s had to relearn the skill and she’s still working on it, but she uses it much more with more clients now because of it. She also uses the pinnard which she has more luck with, and even just her ear. These poor doctors can’t survive without their bells, whistles, and machines -_-
[Reply]
Jenny Islander had this to say,
Jan 24, 2012 @ 9:09 am (Quote)
If you think your education ended when you graduated, and you graduated more than about 8 years ago, I am very frightened and I want out of this room RIGHT NOW.
(You know where I learned about the average useful period of scientific textbooks? High school. This practicioner has no excuse.)
[Reply]
Divine Midwife had this to say,
Nov 27, 2012 @ 7:51 am (Quote)
I am a midwife and a fetoscope does work beyond 20 weeks. The earliest I have picked up heart tones was 17 weeks. You can also use them under water if you put a ziplock bag on the head or use a Sklar Lef. Most OB’s and nurses I have encountered actually think you are talking about a wooden Pinard horn when you say fetoscope… Too funny! Just as with a fetoscope, Doppler also picks up cord, uterine artery and placental sounds. I find it difficult to tell the difference on a Doppler compared to fetoscope, since fetoscope is the real raw sound and Doppler is digitized.
[Reply]
Miss Melancholy had this to say,
Jan 10, 2013 @ 6:08 am (Quote)
I also expressed concerned to my doctor regarding the use of a doppler at every visit and she got defensive and asked me what can she do for me then? As if there was no point in me seeing her if I wasn’t going to allow her to do standard procedures. I asked if she could use a fetoscope instead and she told me she wasn’t 90 years old and that it was an ancient device that she doesn’t even know how to use. Then we got into a debate on ultrasound technology and she tried to make me feel loony for feeling the way I feel about them. I know why I feel the way I feel, do I have no choice in what is done to me and my baby or not? She even went as far to tell me her practice was probably not right for me, which she is probably right. How did it work out for you?
[Reply]
Add Your Comment.
Previous Post
« “You Don’t Have A Choice.” Next Post
“…I Can Tell Just By Looking At You That You Don’t Have An Ectopic Pregnancy.” »
« “You Don’t Have A Choice.” Next Post
“…I Can Tell Just By Looking At You That You Don’t Have An Ectopic Pregnancy.” »
How do you know if they don’t work if you never used one?
[Reply]