Fetal heartbeats are not visualized on ultrasound. Should I be worried?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am eight weeks and five days pregnant. My ultrasonography report says fetal heartbeats not visualized even with the help of a color Doppler. Is it normal? I am very scared. Please reply.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

If you are sure that it is eight weeks then it is not a good sign. Usually, the scan can detect the pregnancy and the heartbeat as early as six weeks.But it is advisable to wait for seven to 10 days and repeat the scan. If there is still no sign of heartbeat then it will mean an unhealthy pregnancy. But if you have ovulated a few days later, your baby is not yet six weeks and you will be able to appreciate fetal heartbeat on the next scan.You will have to keep your fingers crossed until the next scan. If you are very anxious to know about the health of your baby, the other option is to have a serum beta hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) tomorrow morning and repeat it after 48 hours. In this period, the blood levels will double if the baby is healthy. If the baby is not healthy, the second value of hCG will be lesser than the original value or it will be almost the same.

Hope I have clarified your query.