When you go for prenatal exams, your doctor should be monitoring your contraction status and the baby's heartbeat. The way this is done is by placing these belts around your belly and they are either attached to a monitor by cables or they may be wireless on what is called telemetry. Now you can take your belts with you to your appointments to be monitored by your obstetrician or midwife... There is a fetal heartbeat sound with the belts so you can hear it anytime you want. Look for the home fetal monitor to accompany the belts so you can listen at home. Trigger = hb Lady Breanna RN Genesis Birth Center