Fetal heartbeat: when it starts to feel and how it can be heard.

Listening to the fetal heartbeat is one of the first emotions of a mother. In addition to checkups, it is also possible to do it with domestic appliances, but with due care. The first gynecological check-ups one of the most exciting moments reserved for parents is certainly listening to the fetal heartbeat. This is usually the second step, after seeing the gestational chamber and the embryo.

The fetus's heart begins to beat before the baby begins to move in the mother's belly, so it is the first contact that is established: it sounds like the roar of galloping horses, many mothers report.

Fetal heartbeat: when do you hear it?

The fetus's heart begins to form during the fifth week of pregnancy and that is when the first heart beats begin. However, it is only in the sixth week that you can begin to hear the fetal beat, which becomes audible in parallel with the development of the cardiovascular system.

You can listen to it with the so-called doppler, an ultrasound device used by gynecologists that amplifies the sound, making it loud enough to be heard. Between the eighteenth and twentieth weeks the baby's heart beats so strongly that it can be heard by placing a simple stethoscope on his stomach.

Fetal heartbeat: values and frequencies

During pregnancy, the fetal heart rate (BCF) is elevated, usually fluctuating between 120 and 160 beats per minute (bpm), remaining constant only during sleep. Outside of these two parameters we speak of bradycardia and tachycardia respectively. Usually at birth it is just 110 beats per minute.

As the months go by, it is normal for the fetal heart rate to drop slightly. One of the causes of the decrease is labor: the contraction of the muscles causes a reduction in the supply of blood and oxygen through the placenta.

In this regard, SIGO (Italian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics) has drawn up a manual (updated in 2018) dedicated exclusively to cardiotocographic monitoring in labor.

In the document, for example, maximum attention is recommended not to confuse BCF from BCM (maternal heartbeat), which can happen not only because they are similar, but especially in cases of maternal anxiety or administration of therapies that generate tachycardia and agitation.

Under these conditions, the devices could mistakenly register as BCF, the BCM and lead to erroneous analyzes.

Once the contraction is over, the heartbeat returns to normal levels. A consistently low value or a sharp rise could be an indication of something wrong, for example possible fetal distress (the blood does not reach the baby well).

Absent fetal heartbeat

The absent fetal heartbeat has no specific symptoms with which it manifests itself, but the absence of a heartbeat is detectable by ultrasound and cardiotocography (capable of also measuring uterine contractions).

In the event that the heartbeat is no longer detected, the doctor can arrange, depending on the gestational age at which one is, further investigations: in the very first weeks of gestation the gynecologist can postpone the control of the fetal beat to a subsequent visit, while if if you are at a more advanced stage of pregnancy, careful monitoring will be arranged and an emergency caesarean will be evaluated if necessary.

Particular attention should be paid to the presence of some symptoms that could indicate a spontaneous abortion, such as bleeding, contractions and pains in the abdomen, or an internal abortion, the symptoms of which are less evident. In these cases it is necessary to promptly contact a doctor, who will also evaluate the presence or absence of the heartbeat.

How to listen to the fetal beat

The Doppler of the gynecologist allows, from the first check-ups, to listen to the fetal heartbeat. But it is also possible to do this with home appliances, for sale online, in pharmacies or in childcare shops.

However, many experts advise against using them, because they require some practice to use them correctly.

In fact, if you are unable to position it correctly and you cannot hear the pulse, you could run into unnecessary stress, which would hurt both the mother and the baby.

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