Listen to the first heart beat of your baby and take a peek into the world of your baby. Find out more about foetal heartbeat. For the doctors, mother and the world outside, if you want to take a peek into the world of your baby, ultrasound is the only means. You would also get to listen to the first heartbeat of your baby through an ultrasound. Pregnancy progresses in a certain natural manner, but doctors and expectant mothers are forever worried about the stage of the pregnancy and how the foetus is developing, so they go in for ultrasounds quite regularly. So there are ample chances that you would be getting to know and hear the first heart beat of your baby. The charting out of the baby’s development on a regular and routine basis is very important as it not only reassures the worried and anxious mother, but also helps the doctor to monitor the progress and predict a precise due date for the delivery. In this articleWhen Can You Expect The First Heart Beat?Foetal Heart Tone (FHT)When the Heart Beat Is Not HeardWhen Can You Expect The First Heart Beat? A month or four weeks after conception, you can expect to see the first heart beat of your baby. An ultrasound clearly shows the baby’s heart beat at this stage. Point to note – you can see the heart beat of the foetus, but cannot hear it even with the help of a Doppler. Your pregnancy needs to proceed into its 9th to 10th week of the first trimester, in order to enable you to hear the first heart beat of the baby. In some cases the foetal heart beat can only be heard at the 12th or 14th week. This is also perfectly normal and there is nothing to worry if you do not get to hear the first heart beat on the 9th week. Check with the doctor if the other associated conditions of your pregnancy are fine, and then you do not need to worry at all. Foetal Heart Tone (FHT) In clinical terms, the heart beat of the foetus is called the foetal heart tone or FHT. It is a rather very rapid heartbeat rate as it is recorded somewhere between 180 beats per minute, which is much faster compared to an adult. By the time you enter into the 12th week of your pregnancy, the BPM slows down a bit to 120 to 160 beats per minute. From here on, it remains more or less constant. When the Heart Beat Is Not Heard When the doctor is trying to record the first heart beat of your foetus, remember, he or she is also trying to monitor the gestational sac in your uterus. This is in order to measure the size of the foetus and determine the age of the baby. The due date is calculated on an estimate that is based on the last date of your menstrual period. The due date gets turned off or is clinically delayed if the mother tends to have irregular periods or had ovulated for the conception quite late in her ovulation cycle. So if the ultrasound is performed before 6 weeks, the foetus would be too small and you may not be able to get a recording of the foetal heart tone. A repeat ultrasound can yield positive results of a visible heart beat when carried out after a couple of weeks. But of the first heart beat is still not recorded the doctor may suggest you to get a few other tests done in order to ensure that the possibility of a failed pregnancy, or a miscarriage. These are all clinical conditions and it is always recommended to follow the suggestions of the doctor and take adequate precautions. Successful conception that leads to a healthy pregnancy is desired by all and it is a joint collaboration of the mother, her spouse and her doctor.
Listen to the first heart beat of your baby and take a peek into the world of your baby. Find out more about foetal heartbeat. For the doctors, mother and the world outside, if you want to take a peek into the world of your baby, ultrasound is the only means. You would also get to listen to the first heartbeat of your baby through an ultrasound. Pregnancy progresses in a certain natural manner, but doctors and expectant mothers are forever worried about the stage of the
pregnancy and how the foetus is developing, so they go in for ultrasounds quite regularly.
So there are ample chances that you would be getting to know and hear the first heart beat of your baby. The charting out of the baby’s development on a regular and routine basis is very important as it not only reassures the worried and anxious mother, but also helps the doctor to monitor the progress and predict a precise due date for the delivery.
When Can You Expect The First Heart Beat?
A month or four weeks after conception, you can expect to see the first heart beat of your baby. An ultrasound clearly shows the baby’s heart beat at this stage. Point to note – you can see the heart beat of the foetus, but cannot hear it even with the help of a Doppler. Your pregnancy needs to proceed into its 9th to 10th week of the first trimester, in order to enable you to hear the first heart beat of the baby.
In some cases the foetal heart beat can only be heard at the 12th or 14th week. This is also perfectly normal and there is nothing to worry if you do not get to hear the first heart beat on the 9th week. Check with the doctor if the other associated conditions of your pregnancy are fine, and then you do not need to worry at all.
Foetal Heart Tone (FHT)
In clinical terms, the heart beat of the foetus is called the foetal heart tone or FHT. It is a rather very rapid heartbeat rate as it is recorded somewhere between 180 beats per minute, which is much faster compared to an adult. By the time you enter into the 12th week of your pregnancy, the BPM slows down a bit to 120 to 160 beats per minute. From here on, it remains more or less constant.
When the Heart Beat Is Not Heard
When the doctor is trying to record the first heart beat of your foetus, remember, he or she is also trying to monitor the gestational sac in your uterus. This is in order to measure the size of the foetus and determine the age of the baby. The due date is calculated on an estimate that is based on the last date of your menstrual period. The due date gets turned off or is clinically delayed if the mother tends to have irregular periods or had ovulated for the conception quite late in her ovulation cycle. So if the ultrasound is performed before 6 weeks, the foetus would be too small and you may not be able to get a recording of the foetal heart tone.
A repeat ultrasound can yield positive results of a visible heart beat when carried out after a couple of weeks. But of the first heart beat is still not recorded the doctor may suggest you to get a few other tests done in order to ensure that the possibility of a failed pregnancy, or a miscarriage.
These are all clinical conditions and it is always recommended to follow the suggestions of the doctor and take adequate precautions. Successful conception that leads to a healthy pregnancy is desired by all and it is a joint collaboration of the mother, her spouse and her doctor.
