It is something all pregnant moms wait to hear, that first sound of life, the confirmation that there really is a little person growing inside of them; the heartbeat. The heart begins to develop very early in pregnancy and by the 5th week of gestation will begin to beat. Since it is so tiny you can often see it on an ultrasound before you can actually hear it with a doppler device.

Many women will have an early ultrasound, sometime during the 7th to 9th week of pregnancy to confirm the pregnancy is progressing normally and that the fetus is developing. One of the key aspects of this ultrasound is seeing the heart and the heartbeat. Your doctor will be looking to make sure the heart is developing properly, doesn’t appear to have any defects, and is beating at a normal rate. Seeing that tiny heartbeat can be an amazing bonding experience with that tiny little life growing inside of you. Up until this point the pregnancy may have seemed a little surreal, but seeing that little heart beating, well it isn’t so little, it takes up most of the mid-section of the fetus at this point, can make it all see real for the first time.

Hearing the heartbeat is the next big milestone. Usually around the 10th week of pregnancy your doctor will be able to pick up your baby’s heartbeat using a doppler device. Each prenatal visit going forward will include a listen to the heartbeat. Your doctor is looking first to make sure there is a heartbeat, confirmation that the baby is still developing, and listening to the rate of the heartbeat to make sure there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable problems. A normal heart rate for a developing fetus is 120 to 160 beats per minute. When you hear for the first time it will sound like it is beating away at a mile a minute!

Be sure to ask your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about your pregnancy or your developing baby. Your doctor can talk to you about fetal development, what to expect, and what to look for as your pregnancy progresses.

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