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| |    Early Fetal Heart Development: 0-9 Weeks by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D. For many expectant parents, the most exciting image captured on a seven- to nine-week ultrasound is the first glimpse of their baby's beating heart. While an ultrasound at this gestational age often reveals only a flickering image on a grainy background, it can be quite reassuring (and for some parents, monumental) to see a normal heartbeat. For many, this is a true bonding moment, when the fact that a new life is growing inside really sinks in. The heart's early development The fetal heart undergoes a considerable amount of growth very early in pregnancy. The most critical period of its development is between three and seven weeks after fertilization, when a simple heart tube assumes the shape of a four-chambered heart. In fact, the heart actually begins beating by the 22nd day of life (or the fifth week of a 40-week pregnancy). What a normal heartbeat signifies Visualizing a normally beating heart using ultrasound at seven to nine weeks can offer reassurance, although not a guarantee, that the developing fetus is healthy. While miscarriage occurs in about 15 percent of apparently normal pregnancies, it only occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies where a normal heartbeat has been seen or heard.
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