When Can You Hear a Baby’s Heartbeat?
The heartbeat of the baby can be heard in the womb thanks to the doppler ultrasound performed during the routine pregnancy examination. The baby’s heartbeat can be heard from the 6th week in the normal process, but it may take between 10-12 weeks to hear the heartbeat clearly. After the baby’s first heartbeat is heard, it is necessary to monitor the heartbeat regularly.
Having a healthy baby is one of those moments that many happy couples look forward to. From the moment the pregnancy takes place, a challenging but exciting process awaits the expectant mother of 9 months and 10 days. Pregnancy is a time full of excitement, complaints and hopes for parents. Especially in the first pregnancy, everything is very meaningful and very special.
From the moment the pregnancy test is positive, seeing the gestational sac where the baby’s first formation takes place and hearing the baby’s heartbeat in the womb is a completely different excitement. This process is followed by the moment of birth and the unforgettable moments afterwards. While these are happening, the expectant mother has questions about the development and health of the baby, rightly in her mind. This sometimes causes him anxiety.
After seeing the gestational sac, “When is the baby’s heartbeat heard?” The question is the biggest concern. This issue is not only intriguing, but also a cause for concern. Because hearing the baby’s heartbeat is a sign that it is largely healthy. When the expectant mother hears this sound, she takes a sigh of relief.
At What Week Can Baby Heartbeat Be Heard?
During pregnancy, some advices are often given to expectant mothers about adequate and healthy nutrition. In addition to adequate and healthy nutrition, it is also important to stay away from stress, perform regular doctor check-ups and act according to doctor’s instructions during pregnancy. It is a conscious state of mind to take into account the guidance of doctors in order to keep both the baby’s development process and the health status of the expectant mother under control.
Perhaps the most exciting of these checks during pregnancy is when the baby’s heartbeat is heard for the first time. While hearing the baby’s heartbeat during pregnancy is a highly desired and eagerly anticipated situation, “When does the baby’s heartbeat start?” The answers to the question may differ. Namely, while 5 weeks old baby’s heartbeat can be heard in the ultrasound images of some expectant mothers, this mostly happens at the end of the 6th week. Therefore, in cases where the heartbeat is not heard in the first place during pregnancy, remembering that these differences may be possible, the doctor’s opinion and guidance should be listened to without panic.
How to Listen to Your Baby’s Heartbeat
The heartbeat of the baby can be heard in the womb thanks to the doppler ultrasound performed during the routine pregnancy examination. The baby’s heartbeat can be heard from the 6th week in the normal process, but it may take between 10-12 weeks to hear the heartbeat clearly. After the baby’s first heartbeat is heard, it is necessary to monitor the heartbeat regularly.
“At what week can the baby’s heartbeat be heard?” The mother-to-be, who wants to find an answer to her question quickly, can satisfy her curiosity with the help of trans-vaginal ultrasound starting from the 5th week of pregnancy. This method is mostly applied to expectant mothers who follow a risky process during pregnancy. During a trans vaginal ultrasound, the doctor inserts a swab-like device into the vagina to examine it. This bar sends out sound waves so that the baby’s heartbeat can be heard.
During pregnancy, the baby’s heart structure and heartbeat rhythm are issues that should be evaluated periodically. In order to make this evaluation in a healthy way, it should be waited until the 20th week of pregnancy. From the 20th week, it is determined whether there is a structural or rhythm-affecting problem in the heart valves of the baby.
What Should Your Baby’s Heart Rate Be?
The heartbeat of the baby in the womb must be in a certain rhythm. The biggest indicator of the beginning of a new life in the womb of the expectant mother is the baby’s heartbeat and movements. From time to time, the baby’s heartbeat cannot be heard or its movements are not felt, which may cause anxiety in the expectant mother. Although you can understand the presence of the baby from the heartbeat when it is 5-6 weeks old, you will feel it most clearly between 20-25 weeks.
The baby actually starts moving around 7 weeks old. However, the expectant mother rarely starts to feel these movements from the 14th week, and exactly from the 20th week. If the pregnancy process continues in a healthy way, the heartbeat of the 7-week-old baby should be between 120-160 per minute. If this number is below 85 or over 200, the doctor may give different directions to make sure everything is going well.
What If a Baby Doppler Shows No Heartbeat?
One of the questions in the minds of expectant mothers is “When does the baby’s heart form?” is the question. The heart of the baby in the mother’s womb begins to form from the 4th week. Based on the mother’s last menstrual period, the baby should be able to be observed in the gestational sac during the ultrasound examination performed 5 weeks later. In the normal process, the menstrual irregularity of the expectant mother causes the ovulation pattern to be different. In addition to these reasons, if the expectant mother does not remember the last menstrual period, even a 7-week pregnancy heartbeat may not be heard. In such a case, the process should be closely monitored for 1-2 weeks.
It is important that expectant mothers do not immediately worry if the doctor cannot hear the baby’s heartbeat. As mentioned earlier, heartbeats can be expected to be heard in the later weeks of pregnancy, and this may differ between expectant mothers. On the other hand, there are some special methods for hearing the baby’s heart rate. If a problem is encountered during pregnancy, these problems can be detected with special ultrasound methods.
For example, although the placenta and membrane formation that forms the gestational sac is normal in some pregnancies, the baby cannot be followed through this structure. Among the people, this situation is called empty pregnancy. If the sac is seen on ultrasound, but the embryo inside cannot be seen and the baby’s heartbeat cannot be heard, it means that an empty pregnancy has occurred. If the doctor detects a problem like this in the baby or the mother, he will take the necessary precautions for each situation, and perform the treatment or applications without wasting time. In such cases, it is very important for expectant mothers and their partners to remain calm and listen to the diagnosis and guidance of the doctor.