Palpitation of the fetus: rates and abnormalities

Palpitation of the fetus indicates the development of a new life. It is this that characterizes the degree of health of the baby (physical and psychological), his mood at this moment. Therefore, during pregnancy, doctors and parents pay special attention to this issue.

Heart rate and their specificity is an indicator of the condition of the baby. The heart develops very long and has a more complex structure than all other organs. It begins to form around the 4th week of pregnancy and is a hollow tube, where the first contractions already appear on the 5th week, and by the 9th week its structure begins to resemble the structure of the heart of an adult. But this organ of the baby in the womb is still different from the usual: it has a hole between the right and left atrium and arterial flow. The fact that the fetus can not breathe on its own, because this structure helps oxygen to enter all the organs of the child.

Palpitation of the fetus is the main characteristic of its viability. If the blows with a minute less than 86-100 or more than 200 - this is a signal for concern. If the baby reaches its embryonic growth of 8 mm, and the heartbeat is not tapped, then, most likely, the pregnancy is frozen. Therefore, when visiting a gynecologist, be sure to be interested in how your baby's heart beats.

Sometimes the palpitation of the fetus, whose rate depends on the timing of pregnancy, may be less than the prescribed indicators due to placental insufficiency or hypoxia of the fetus. Sometimes a similar condition occurs when a pelvic presentation of the fetus is observed.

Characteristically, the longer the gestation period, the more pronounced the heart beats. Upon examination, the gynecologist regularly checks this indicator. The heartbeat of the fetus he listens with the auscultation technique (this method is the easiest and most convenient to use): the obstetric stethoscope is applied to the abdomen in the place where the heart is roughly located. So, with a headache, listening is either left or right down from the navel. It depends on where the kid turned the backrest. When the position of the child is transverse, the heart is best heard at the level of the navel. In pelvic presentation, heart beats are most clearly heard when the stethoscope is located above this organ.

In the early stages of pregnancy control of this indicator is carried out only with the help of ultrasound. In the first trimester of pregnancy, heart rate (heart rate) does not change. Only then does this frequency begin to increase. Until the 8th week the rate of heart beats should not exceed 130 beats. At 9-10th week, the heart rate is approximately 180-190, and beginning with the 11th and before the onset of heart palpitations, the fetus should be 140 to 160 beats per minute.

At later dates, the change in indicators depends on the activity of the baby in the womb and on the strain that is placed on the female body (illnesses, temperature conditions (severe cold or heat)). If there is a lack of oxygen, the heart rate increases to 160, and then, on the contrary, decreases to 120 strokes.

With the proper development of the heart, tones should be rhythmic and well, clearly audible. Arrhythmia is observed in those children who have congenital heart defects or intrauterine hypoxia.

Sometimes the fetal heartbeat is poorly audible if anterior placenta is observed. This is also typical of polyhydramnios or infertility, with multiple pregnancy, as well as obesity and increased activity of the baby.

In the second and third trimester, ultrasound is directed not so much to the study of the heartbeat as to the location of the organ itself. Sometimes, for the purpose of detailed research, echocardiography and cardiotocography are performed (in this form, both the fetal heartbeat and uterine contractions can be monitored).