One of the most exciting moments of pregnancy occurs when, thanks to ultrasound, we can hear the baby's heartbeat in the womb. But when is it possible to hear it?
The heart begins to form towards the fifth week of pregnancy, when in the center of the embryo there is a bulge that together with the first blood vessels will become the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system.
By the sixth week of pregnancy the heart starts beating regularly, although it is very likely that early ultrasound does not yet detect that beat. The embryo is very small, measuring just one centimeter.
It is common for ultrasound to detect the heartbeat in sight and we can see it by looking at the monitor. But it will be from week ten of pregnancy when the heartbeat is noticeable to the ear.
In Babies and more A surprising finding: the first beat of the fetus occurs only 16 days after conceptionUsing a Doppler ultrasound that amplifies the sounds it is possible to hear, between week ten and twelve, the heartbeat of the fetus, which goes very fast. In this ultrasound you can observe the blood flow and thus detect heart problems.
The Doppler allows you to hear the baby's heartbeat and although it may seem to the parents that they beat several hearts (in fact the rapid rhythm of the heartbeat resembles the gallop of a horse), the doctor's trained ear will tell us if we expect a baby or more one's.
And it is that in the case of multiple pregnancies, depending on the position of the babies it is possible that the doctor can hear the differentiated beats, but if two beats are heard at the same time, it is also possible that it is not more than the same as heard twice, since the heart of a single fetus can be heard "duplicated" sometimes with ultrasound.
I am at week 12 and the fetus beat is not heard
You are also likely to be in week ten or twelve and through the ultrasound the fetus beat is not heard. This could be due to various factors, such as the position of the baby or an excessive layer of maternal fat.
If the heartbeat is not audible, it is also possible that the date calculated for pregnancy has not been correct and we are actually at an earlier stage of pregnancy. In this case the measurement of the embryo or fetus through ultrasound would help determine gestational age.
Most likely, in the next ultrasound you can hear the beat and enjoy that magical moment. What matters is that the monitors show that there is a heartbeat, movement, circulation ... and finally, that the embryo or fetus develops properly.
Listen to the fetus's heartbeat from week 20
Between eighteen and twenty weeks of pregnancy the heart already beats harder, so that it can be heard by placing a stethoscope on the pregnant woman's belly. We will differentiate it from the mother's heart because the fetus goes much faster as we have commented (between 120 and 160 beats per minute).
At this point and until the end of pregnancy your couples can try sticking the ear to the belly to see if they can differentiate the baby's heart, although it is not simple and they may not succeed.
In Babies and more The first ultrasound of pregnancy: that emotional moment in which you can see your babyThis was done in the past, although it can be complicated since inside the pregnant woman there is a lot of movement and other noises that can mitigate or mix with the sound of the heartbeat: the pregnant woman's own heart, the fluids in the placenta, the blood flow of the mother…
In addition, it is necessary to get the correct position, resting the ear on the baby's back, but it is difficult to know what this position is and only with practice is it distinguished.
Today there are devices that we can have at home to listen to the child's heart when we feel like it, "homemade dopllers" or portable fetal detectors. This fetal detector is a handheld device to which headphones are attached and, sliding it through the appropriate area of the belly, allows you to hear the baby's heartbeat.
There are also mobile applications that facilitate a task of heartbeat control, heart rate ..., although it is also not necessary to obsess.
Definitely, from the tenth week of pregnancy it is possible to hear the beat of the fetus With Doppler technology and after another ten weeks it is already audible through the stethoscope. There is less to feel the beat in the baby's chest closer, skin to skin.
Photos | Thinkstock On Babies and more | Bellabeat, listen to the baby's heartbeat from the mobile
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