QuestionHi Brenda,
My wife is in her 9th week of pregnancy. She consulted a doc for her regular checkup yesterday. The doctor said that the growth looks fine but the heart beat is faintly heard. She used a sono for finding the results. She also suggested for a scan after a couple of weeks again.
Can you please tell me if this is a reason to worry?Can you also please highlight the reasons why this has caused and also the precautions to be taken.
Worried,
Vamsi
AnswerDear Vamsi,
I'm not sure I understand what method was used at the doctor's visit. If it was a sonogram (ultrasound), heart activity could have been visualized and the heart rate determined, not just heard. Once women are at 9-10 weeks, doctors usually LISTEN to heart sounds with a Doppler instrument, which bounces harmless sound waves off the fetal heart. The way the sound comes back is affected by motion, so a beating heart creates a change in the sound that can be picked up by the receiver in the Doppler. Whether you actually hear the heartbeat at 9 or 10 weeks depends partly on luck because the instrument must be placed at just the right angle. It also depends on the position of the uterus, and if the woman is slim or heavy. By the 12th week, the heartbeat can usually be heard consistently, using the Doppler instrument for amplification.
Fetal heart rate tends to vary with gestational age in the very early parts of pregnancy. Normal heart rate at 6 weeks is around 90-110 beats per minute (bpm) and at 9 weeks is 140-170 bpm. At 5-8 weeks a bradycardia or slower than normal heart rate (less than 90 bpm) is associated with a higher risk of miscarriage.
However, there is a big difference between "faint" and slow. This is why it is SO very important to get this clarified at the doctor's office at the time of the visit. Always ask what the results mean and what the risks are with the findings. I always encourage women to never, ever walk out of the office with a question in their mind. Get those answers while you are there. The not knowing is so much worse because you may be worrying for little or no reason.
As far as precautions, there really are none to take. If it ends up that there is a problem with this baby's development, there is absolutely nothing you or your wife can do to prevent or change it; nor is there any definitive way to know what would have caused it. But I believe that kind of negative conclusion is really jumping the gun at this point. Especially if the Doppler was the only instrument used and an ultrasound was not done yet.
I would suggest that you should not panic at all until the ultrasound can be done. I hope that this has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.
Brenda
