Using a fetoscope, it is sometimes easy to hear the swoosh sound of the placenta i.e. the mothers pulse delivering blood to the placenta but I am unable to hear the fetal heart beat. Either the mother is fat or she moves away because she is having a contraction. My question is, if i have heard only the placenta swooshing pulse, it is enough to know the fetus is alive? I think this question only applies to those who use a fetoscope, because those who use a doppler likely cannot differentiate between placenta and maternal pulse, because all they get is a rate. A fetoscope is much more sensitive to the nuances of fetal heart and placenta and maternal heart beat.
Is there anyone who was checking with a fetoscope and there was a dead fetus, lacking any fetal heart tones, but still heard the placental swish?
With the doppler you can hear 3 things. The baby's heartbeat, the blood flowing through the placneta and the blood flowing through the cord. All of these mean there is a beating infant heart.
I agree with ganesh.
I have never come across a dead baby with placental swoosh sounds (that is not the maternal pulse rate0
I have had experiences with hearing the placental sounds (maternal pulse rate) with no FHTs found. In one case it was recent fetal demise and in another it was molar pregnancy. It is necessary to find the sound of the FHTs in order to know that there is a viable fetus.
Georgia Macad- Please clarify- you are talking about the swoosh of the placenta beating at maternal pulse rate, and not an ultrasound detection at the rate of the maternal pulse ?
Judy, I am referring to the swoosh of the placenta beating at the maternal pulse rate heard both with fetoscope and doppler.
You can hear the placental sounds at the mother's rate (arteries) and baby's rate (vein) both with fetoscope and doppler. If you only hear the placental sound with the mother's rate it does not tell you that the fetus is still alive. If you hear the placental sounds at the fetal rate (differentiated by checking the mother's pulse at the same time as listening) you can assume that the fetus is alive.