When Can You Hear Baby’s Heartbeat On Ultrasound And By Ear?
Ultrasounds are very useful tools in prenatal care. They allow doctors to get a good look at your developing fetus before it is too late. However, they have limitations: they cannot detect every fetal abnormality or condition, and their resolution varies from scan to scan.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that ultrasounds be performed between 20 – 25 weeks gestation. If you are having your first ultrasound, then your best bet is to wait until after 24 weeks because there is still time for any problems to be detected during the second trimester.
If you are having a repeat ultrasound, then you will need to make sure that everything looks normal on the initial scan so that you don’t miss anything later.
In general, the earlier you can see a heartbeat, the better. Ultrasound can be used to detect heart defects early. It is also possible to use ultrasound to detect fetal anomalies that may not be apparent on other methods such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS).
How Many Weeks Of Pregnancy Can You Hear The Heartbeat?
With special equipment and training, it is possible to hear a heartbeat as early as 6 weeks after conception. The average person seeking out an ultrasound can hear the heartbeat between 12 and 14 weeks. By 20 weeks, the fetal pole should be quite visible, and by 24-26 weeks, most people can see little arms, legs, fingers, and toes on their own.
When Can You Hear Baby’s Heartbeat on Ultrasound?
The American Pregnancy Association states that most doctors will perform an ultrasound between the 8-10 week mark for a general anatomy scan. This is when you can find out your due date as well as see if you’re having more than one baby (if you aren’t sure yet). Many people also like to wait until this point to find out the gender of their baby.
Many people will wait until they are 20 weeks along before getting a better scan. This is usually required if you are experiencing any problems during your pregnancy or you have risk factors for potential issues.
How Can You Hear Your Baby’s Heartbeat?
There are many ways to find out whether or not you can hear your baby’s heartbeat and when. The first thing you need to do is contact your doctor or midwife and ask them.
They will also be able to give you specific instructions on what you should do to listen for the heartbeat yourself. You may or may not be given the option to listen at home. It really depends on how far along you are and what kind of medical history you have.
Make sure that you call soon because some hospitals have a rule that you must listen for the heartbeat within a certain amount of days after you’ve found out you’re pregnant.
If you are given the go ahead, go ahead and follow your doctor or midwife’s instructions! If you are not given the go ahead, do not despair. There are still several options for you to find out if your baby’s heart is healthy or even to see it on ultrasound.
What To Expect When Listening For The Heartbeat
While every fetus is different, here are some of the things you can expect when listening for the heartbeat:
You shouldn’t feel any pain. This is more of a fun activity than anything else. You may be able to hear it right away or it may take a little while. Some people are more sensitive to sounds than others so don’t give up if you can’t hear anything right away.
Some people swear by doing this exercise while taking a bath or outside in nature. This is because there are less distractions and there’s less background noise.
What Does The Heart Of A Fetus Feel Like?
A mother who is able to feel her baby at this stage will often describe it as a fluttering feeling in their stomach. This is most common when the baby is resting. As the fetus gets more active, it can feel like your stomach is doing somersaults or having butterflies.
What Does A Fetus At 8 Weeks Look Like?
This will obviously differ from baby to baby since everyone is different. At eight weeks, your baby will most likely look like a little seed or a tadpole.
Most likely it will be curled up in a ball and only have a tiny mouth and an abdomen that is visible. Keep in mind that every baby develops at their own pace so don’t panic if it doesn’t look like other babies of the same gestation period.
Even if it looks like it has cuddly little arms and legs, they are still all tucked in and won’t be poking out for a few more weeks. It may even look more like a sea creature than a human at this stage. Some people say that this is the point when it officially becomes an embryo and not a fetus anymore since there is now evidence of a actual human shape instead of a simple cluster of cells.
What’s The Best Way To Conceive?
Sources & references used in this article:
Music during pregnancy by B Arabin – … International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and …, 2002 – Wiley Online Library
When the brain can’t hear: Unraveling the mystery of auditory processing disorder by L Sweet – 2004 – Zondervan
Baby’s first picture: Ultrasound and the politics of fetal subjects by TJ Bellis – 2003 – books.google.com
Why we like music: Ear, emotion, evolution by LM Mitchell – 2001 – books.google.com
