Monitoring fetal health allows medical professionals to better take care of expecting mothers and their babies. If something goes wrong during a pregnancy, fetal health monitoring will help doctors catch the issue quickly and act accordingly.

Monitoring fetal health at home can give expecting mothers peace of mind about their babies. Mothers don’t have the same resources at home as they do in a medical facility, but there are still ways to keep an eye on your baby’s health. Here are a few safe and useful tips for monitoring fetal health at home.

Monitoring Fetal Heart Rate

Monitoring the fetal heart rate is one of the most common ways to check the health of the baby during doctor visits. Medical professionals use a handheld fetal doppler to detect the fetus’s heartbeat through the mother’s abdomen.

While this is a useful method, it’s meant for medical professionals such as doctors or midwives. You need specific training to use a doppler ultrasound device. Furthermore, untrained individuals might not get accurate results when monitoring fetal heart rate this way. This can cause unnecessary panic and stress when you can’t hear the baby’s heartbeat.

Using a Fetoscope

Thankfully, there are other ways to safely monitor fetal heart rate from the comfort of your home.Mothers can use a fetoscope, which is similar to a stethoscope, to listen to their baby’s heartbeat. However, keep in mind that inaccurate results are still possible. If you can’t hear your baby’s heartbeat with a fetoscope, but you can feel the baby moving, there’s no need to worry.

Monitoring Fetal Movement

Fetal movement is another useful indicator of health, which makes fetal movement counting one of the best tips for monitoring fetal health at home. Practice fetal movement counting by setting aside a consistent time each day to count the baby’s kicks. This works well if you count for an hour after meals or during evenings, when your baby is more likely to be active. Most mothers will notice that their baby kicks roughly the same amount each day during this time. Use this baseline number to keep an eye on your baby’s activity throughout the pregnancy.

At-Home Visits

Mothers should never have to manage their baby’s health alone. That’s why many healthcare professionals—especially prenatal care providers—offer at-home visits. When a midwife or other professional visits you, they can monitor the health of your baby from the comfort of your own home. Healthcare providers will also be able to give you advice on how to safely monitor and take care of your baby’s health on your own between visits.