That's why all future mothers are waiting for the moment when you can hear the heartbeat of your child with the help of modern ultrasound equipment. From this moment a new life in the belly of a woman really begins to develop, and in a few months on Earth there will be one more person on the Earth.
In this article, we will tell you how the heart develops in the embryo after fertilization, and when it starts to beat during the normal course of pregnancy.
Intrauterine growth of the baby's heart
The embryo that originated in the mother's body, first of all, is alive, so it needs mandatory oxygen supply to maintain vital activity and active development. That is why the formation of the circulatory system is the first priority for a tiny organism.
Already in the second week after fertilization, when the size of the embryo formed is just under 1 mm, its cells gradually begin to divide into 3 "embryonic layers". Each of them will subsequently be endowed with certain functions and, in particular, the average will participate in the formation of the circulatory system, muscles, kidneys, bones and cartilage.
Approximately in the third week after the occurred fusion of the sperm and the egg, a hollow vascular tube is formed, which completely entangles the tiny body of the fetus. This stage is very important in the development of the future baby, because after a while this tube will turn into his heart.
The first contraction of the future main organ occurs on day 22 after the embryo is formed, however, at this time of pregnancy it is not yet controlled by the nervous system. It is this time in medicine that is considered the beginning of the period when the heart beats at the embryo. After that, every day the tiny heart will shrink more and more intensively, and by the 26th day after the embryo has been formed, it will begin to pump the blood itself and do it with a certain rhythm.
During this period of development, the heart of the future baby is one-chambered and only remotely resembles the main organ of an adult. Approximately on the 7th obstetric week of expectation of the baby, a septum is formed in it, and the habitual structure will be acquired only after 10-11 midwifery weeks. Further, throughout the entire pregnancy, the heart of the fetus will constantly undergo major changes, developing along with the rest of the organs and providing them with oxygen and other necessary nutrients.
How many weeks does the heart begin to beat with the fetus?
As noted earlier, the fetal heart normally begins to beat when the first involuntary pulsation occurs, that is, approximately on the 22nd day after fertilization. At the same time, this reduction is very weak, and it is impossible to catch it even with the help of the most modern equipment. In addition, during this period of embryo development, he does not have a steady heart rhythm.
Most expectant mothers are interested in how long the embryo is already beating heart, and this process can be fixed. In most cases, this occurs on the fourth week of development of the baby in the mother's womb, that is, about the sixth obstetric week of pregnancy. It is during this period that doctors recommend a primary ultrasound diagnosis to make sure that the baby is alive and developing normally.
In addition, in some cases, women are interested in what week you can hear that the embryo beats the heart, without the use of special equipment. Usually, after 18-20 weeks of gestation, a doctor can easily recognize the tiny heart beat with a stethoscope or a Doppler detector. To do this, in principle, can and the woman herself, but because of the presence of extraneous noise to conduct a highly accurate diagnosis is not all.