“The Doppler was a relief and a comfort to be able to hear the preferred rhythm of the heart, reassuring me and my husband that everything was OK.
It was also a comfort to know that we could call the doctor at any time day or night should that rhythm change.
Late one evening, we were concerned with the sound of the baby’s heart beat and we immediately sent a recording to Dr. Cuneo. Within a few minutes, Dr. Cuneo responded reassuring us that everything sounded good and there was nothing to worry about.”
“We are very thankful for the opportunity to participate in the study for our third son and pregnancy this past year. The home doppler monitoring helped reassure us each week that our baby’s heart was developing and functioning as expected.
The doctors and support staff were available to answer questions each echo appointment and during the study which helped us really feel more settled this pregnancy. Our son was born in January, heart healthy and with no heart block!
Celebrating the advancement in research through this study and encouraging all families to participate for that same reassurance we experienced this pregnancy.”
“I feel so fortunate that I was able to monitor my baby’s heart while I was pregnant. After having a child born with third degree heart block, knowing I would be able to monitor my baby’s heart gave me the confidence to feel comfortable having another child.
Having the tools to listen to my baby’s heart made me feel empowered and gave the peace of mind I needed. It was such a joy and relief hearing her regular heart rate every day.
The monitoring was so easy to do from the comfort of my own home and made me feel like I was doing all that I could to take care of my daughter, even before she was born.”
“At 28 weeks pregnant, I found out the baby I was carrying had heart block. I was terrified about what this would mean for the health of my child both in utero and in life and worried about the condition getting worse through the pregnancy. Dr. Cuneo armed me with a fetal doppler to track the heart rate of my baby in between office visits and ultimately my first daughter, Viola, was born in second degree heart block but is now two years old and thriving.
A year after Viola’s birth, I found out I was pregnant again and wanted to do everything I could to prevent a heart block in another child. At 16 weeks, I began tracking the baby’s heart rate three times a day, sending recordings to Dr. Cuneo when something sounded off and asking questions when I needed to. It was such a relief to have a way to monitor, and try to prevent, heart block. My second daughter, Hattie, was born in October 2020 without heart block. Finding out about SSA antibodies and the potential harm they can cause during pregnancy is scary and I am excited more women will be given the tools to monitor their babies in utero and hopefully prevent more children being born with heart block.”
