Listen to your unborn baby’s heartbeat with Bellabeat’s Shell

By Bruce Brown November 1, 2016

Shell add-on tutorial

Hearing your unborn child’s heartbeat the first time is a magical moment. Previously an experience limited to doctor’s offices, expectant parents can now be able to hear their unborn baby’s heart non-invasively in their own home with Bellabeat’s Shell.

Shell consists of a smartphone base add-on and a smartphone app. The Shell app is free and can work as a standalone. The app’s algorithm filters ambient noise including the mother’s heartbeat so you can hear the fetal heartbeat clearly. You can also record the heartbeat to play for others or listen again yourself. The Shell app also allows you to share the recorded heartbeat via Facebook, Twitter, or email so you can send it to family and friends.

Related: Bellabeat Leaf review

The Shell add-on’s base shape is designed to “resemble a seashell and the wave pattern illustrates the soothing rhythmic sound of the heartbeat,” according to Bellabeat. Using the app with the Shell add-on “is designed to take it up that extra notch and enhances the overall experience. It works like a sea shell and funnels out and amplifies the sound,” Bellabeat wrote to Digital Trends in an email.

An acoustic horn on the bottom left of the Shell add-on is the part you place directly on your skin. The right side of the Shell curves up away from your skin and that’s where the speaker amplifier is located. One helpful tip is to use the Shell to listen to your own heart first so you’ll be comfortable with the feel and also have a good sense of how to hold the phone and Shell add-on for the best sound.

The Shell app has sample sounds of baby’s heartbeats so you’ll know what to listen for. When you tap the Hear My Baby button in the Shall app, it starts playing and recording the heartbeat. Tutorials assist with finding the best positions for hearing the heartbeat as well as learning how to track heartbeats with multiple pregnancies.

The Shell app is available from the iPhone App Store starting today. The Shell add-on, which like the app is compatible with iPhone 6 and newer models, sells for $70 and will be available on the Bellabeat website in mid-December.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

Smart Home

New to being a mom? Prices cut on baby monitors, sound machines for Mother’s Day

It can be hard to know what to buy new moms for Mother's Day gifts. New parents start off needing everything, but by the time the baby is born most often the mom is loaded up with soft goods - clothes, bedding, blankets, and so forth. Baby tech isn't a typical shower gift, but the added convenience, helping hand, or peace of mind from the right tech can be the best gift for a new mom short of a full day at a spa.

We've found the best baby tech gifts for new moms for this Mother's Day on Amazon and Walmart. You can't go wrong with some beautiful flowers for the first-time mom in the family but a tech gadget will really go a long way. Whether you're buying for a new or experienced mom, these six gifts help moms long after May 12th has passed.
SoundBub White Noise Machine & Bluetooth Speaker --- $15 off

Health & Fitness

ClipDart is an on-demand barber app aimed at people of color

ClipDart founder, Kyle Parker.

It’s funny how we can take certain things for granted, like haircuts. Over the course of more than 50 years of living in different cities, different neighborhoods, or even visiting different countries, not once have I ever worried about whether I could find someone who could cut my hair the way I liked. Then again, I’m white.

But if you’re a person of color, it can be an entirely different experience. That’s what Kyle Parker discovered when he left his hometown of Chicago in 2013 to attend Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, population 9,031. While 24% of Grinnell College’s students identify themselves as people of color, fewer than 10% of residents of the city of Grinnell would say the same of themselves.

Mobile

Circular confirms its $259 smart ring is coming to the U.S.

best wearables of ces 2022 circular ring

The Circular smart ring is finally going to be available for pre-order on Sunday, February 27, via the Circular website and will cost $259. The wearable tech will be available for presale in European countries (France, Germany, the U.K., and Italy,) the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Pre-orders will go live at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 27. Those who pre-order the smart ring should expect delivery between April and June 2022, according to a Circular press release.

Circular doesn't clarify what ring sizes will be available when presales go live, however, the company has said that seven sizes for both men and women will be available. Digital Trends has reached out for clarification on the available sizes, and will update this article when we hear back. The Circular smart ring also comes in four different colors that can be switched out with replaceable outer shells: Black, rose gold, silver, and gold.