Don't try this at home?

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4421

Published 5 November 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4421
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4421

Feature

Don’t try this at home?

Rebecca Coombes, associate editor

¹ BMJ, London

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4308

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Home fetal heart monitors have become widely available in recentyears and cheap enough for big UK retailers such as Mothercareto market the devices as one of the "pregnancy essentials."The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, whichis responsible for those fetal monitors that are categorisedas medical devices, said it had concerns these products werebeing increasingly used by lay people. A spokesperson for theagency said: "We are aware of a case where a mother, concernedby lack of fetal movement, was reassured by an apparent fetalheartbeat from her monitor. However, it appears that the monitorwas reacting to the maternal heartbeat and the child was laterstillborn."

The agency said it can take action when fetal monitors do notcomply with UK and European Union regulations on medical devicesand aims to remove them from the market. But the spokespersonadded: "However, these devices . . . [Full text of this article]

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