The first time to clearly hear the heartbeat of a child in the womb is an exciting and amazing moment for every woman, and even for a man.

This is not only a satisfaction of the mother's need for communication, but also a need that is able to make the doctor understand many things about the state of human health.

Each future mom seeks to resolve the issue of how to listen to the fetal heartbeat at home, since for her this is a direct opportunity to make sure that the child is growing correctly.

For the expectant mother, several different methods and ways are open with which you can hear how a person's heart beats.

There are standard methods that can be carried out in all modern clinics, and there are methods that can be done at home.

Women who are expecting a baby should definitely communicate with the doctor. it special relationship between patient and doctor, which are very important.

Pregnancy is a huge responsibility and a very important period of life, which must be entrusted not only to a professional, but also to a qualified attending physician.

It's important to talk to your doctor about your baby's development and find out what methods exist to listen to your baby's heartbeat.

If the doctor was chosen as carefully as possible, he will not only competently manage the pregnancy, but will also patiently answer the numerous questions of the expectant mother. good doctor be sure to let you know when you can hear the first heartbeat of the child and invite you to an appointment.

The first audition must be done in the doctor's office. The specialist will explain what the norm of the heartbeat is for a particular period, as well as how to listen to the heart on your own at home.

Most doctors prescribe listening to the heart during the period of 9-10 weeks and before childbirth. It is at this point that you can prepare numerous questions that you plan to ask the specialist.

It is very important to know how listening is carried out, for what purpose this event is carried out, and also what are the norms for the heartbeat of the fetus in the womb.

Do not forget that listening to the heart is quite an emotional and exciting visit.. It is for this reason that you should take your future dad or other relative with you to the appointment.

The first heart sounds at a doctor's office can be heard when a nurse or doctor uses an instrument such as a fetal doppler.

This is a device that uses sound waves to increase the beating of the heart.

In the process of such an examination, you need to lie on the examination table, after which the doctor holds a small sensor across the abdomen.

This is a unique procedure and a very sensitive device, with which you can listen to the heart with the complete absence of any painful sensations for a minimum period of 9-12 weeks.

To hear the heartbeat for more early dates, you can use a procedure such as ultrasound. This is an ideal opportunity to hear the heart at 7-8 weeks, that is, around the time the fetus has a heartbeat in the fetus.

The procedure at this time is prescribed infrequently, usually only with certain alleged risks for the woman and for the fetus. In normal situations, the procedure is carried out no earlier than 10-12 weeks.

A variety of devices to listen to the heart can be used in the doctor's office. In addition to the above, you can note such a device as a stethoscope.

Unlike other devices, this device has a reduced power rating. The device is used not earlier than in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Many doctors and obstetricians, if necessary, to decide how to hear the baby's heart, can use a device such as a fetoscope.

If ultrasound and other serious methods cannot be used at home, then other devices can be purchased and listened to at home.

Before using this or that home method, it is necessary to consult with your doctor regarding how to listen to the fetal heartbeat.

Home listening options

There are quite a few methods and ways that allow you to listen to the baby's heart at home, under normal conditions. Here are the most popular and effective ones.

If you want to listen to the baby's heart at home, many women wonder if it is possible to hear the fetal heartbeat with a stethoscope.

You can answer it positively. This is one of the most simple ways listen to the fetal heartbeat in normal home conditions.

Around the 18th week of pregnancy, the heartbeat becomes strong enough and pronounced enough to be heard through a stethoscope.

The device is very simple to use, just put it on your stomach and listen. To find the place where the heart will be heard most clearly, you may have to move the device around your stomach for a while. A little patience and you can enjoy the sounds of the baby's heart.

To achieve a positive result, you should purchase a quality stethoscope from a trusted seller. In modern pharmacies, you can purchase devices from different manufacturers, so in the process of purchasing it is worth consulting with a specialist.

Many mothers are interested in the question of whether it is possible to hear the fetal heartbeat with a phonendoscope.. This is an even easier to use device that is familiar to every person.

One part of the device is inserted into the ears, the other is applied to the stomach. With the correct location of the right place, you can hear a clear heartbeat.

Modern innovative technologies provide an opportunity for future parents to hear the baby's heartbeat without any effort.

There are several different modern applications that can be purchased at low cost and downloaded to a smartphone for listening to the heartbeat on your own.

There are also more advanced applications with which you can not only listen to the heartbeat, but record it to listen to your loved ones or just leave it as a keepsake.

To listen to the baby's heartbeat at home, you can purchase an inexpensive heart monitor. This is a relatively small device that can be used at home.

The heart monitor is a relatively new, compact and functional device that is the best alternative to visiting a doctor. If the expectant mother is prone to worries about the unborn baby, the use of the device will help to calm down.

You need to know that monitors of this kind are not as powerful as the devices used in modern clinics. They are not able to catch the baby's heartbeat before the five-month gestation period.

Before purchasing a home heart measurement device, be sure to consult a doctor. It is also important after the acquisition to follow the instructions for use as clearly as possible.

You can listen to the heart of a child without the use of special drugs, just choose quiet time and someone close to put your ear to your stomach.

This is one of the simplest, affordable and at the same time effective ways solving the question of whether it is possible to feel the heartbeat of the fetus through the stomach, simply by putting your ear to it. There are no difficulties here, with the exception of excess weight future mother.

To listen, you need to choose a place that directly depends on the position of the fetus. If the child lies upside down, the beat can be heard a little below the navel, with a breech presentation, the heart can be heard in the area just above the navel.

With multiple pregnancies, the heartbeat can be heard anywhere.

Before listening to the heart at home, it is worth learning about the main factors that can affect the sound.

Even if modern devices are used correctly in the listening process, there are quite a few different factors that can interfere with hearing the fetal heartbeat.

First of all, this is the position of the fetus and the weight of the expectant mother. All this affects the position of the fetus, as well as whether or not it will be possible to clearly hear the heartbeat.

During pregnancy, do not be afraid to be suspicious. At the slightest suspicion of a problem, for example, if the heartbeat is poorly heard, you should immediately consult a doctor.

The weekly fetal heart rate is more accurately determined, but the average fetal heart rate is 120-160 beats. Some fluctuations of 10-15 beats in one direction or another per minute are acceptable.

It all depends on the position and activity of the fetus in a given period. Particular attention is paid to heart rate during labor. An increase in the number of contractions during uterine contractions will be normal.

If at this moment there is a decrease in heart rate, this may be evidence of possible hypoxia, fetal or placental insufficiency, and can also be observed in full compliance with the norms, if the child simply has a pelvic position.

Studies of cardiac activity by various methods are carried out, both throughout the entire period of pregnancy and in the process of labor.

This is an ideal opportunity to assess the general condition of the baby, as well as to start treatment as soon as possible if a possible pathology is detected.

Tracking the number of heartbeats is required not only because of aesthetic pleasure, but also for this process there is a certain need.

Among the situations in which you need to constantly monitor the baby's heartbeat, the following can be noted:

An examination of such a plan is a necessity for all mothers who have pathologies that can become the basis for a lack of oxygen and useful trace elements.

To grow healthy baby, you need to constantly monitor the health of his heart. There are many different things that can be done to help a child's heart grow healthy and full of strength.

First of all, you must completely and unconditionally renounce bad habits- from alcohol, nicotine and drugs.

You need to take folic acid, which will help the child develop normally. You should watch your diet, eat only healthy food and avoid caffeine.

It is worth familiarizing yourself with all the risk factors. Although it is impatient to hear a healthy fetal heartbeat, it is worth initially familiarizing yourself with the likely risks associated with the use of a heart monitor designed to monitor the baby's basic cardiac activity.

The main disadvantage is that the sound of a healthy heartbeat can lead to an unreasonable feeling of complete safety in pregnant women.

For example, if a mother is not feeling well, but still hears the baby's heartbeat, she may postpone her visit to the doctor.

It is necessary to listen to your body and contact your doctor at the very first symptoms of general malaise. You cannot rely entirely on heart monitors used at home.

Moreover, the presence of such a monitor in the room can seriously increase the overall female stress level.

It's important to get close to your child.. With the permission of the doctor, you can begin to regularly listen to the fetal heartbeat. This is a special emotional feeling that will allow you to get closer to the child.

To feel intimacy, you should relax, try taking a warm bath for this and talk a little with your tummy. In the later weeks of pregnancy, the baby will begin in a special way respond to mom's voice and begin to feel her mood.

Conclusion

If the expectant mother wants to listen to her baby's heartbeat from time to time, if she needs it, this can be done in many ways.

In order to have an elementary idea of ​​​​the condition of the child and the course of pregnancy, it is worth using these methods.

At the same time, a home examination should in no case replace a full-fledged medical examination, which is prescribed by a doctor at certain time periods.

Before you make listening to the heartbeat a system, it is worth trying several methods and choosing the most suitable one. Dad should also be included in listening to the heartbeat, this will make the moment special for the whole family.

11.07.2007

Terms prenatal development fetuses are characterized by constant, varied in their manifestations, but extremely close contact with the mother's body. Depending on the condition of the mother, the content of essential nutrients in the blood flowing to the uterus, the concentration of hormones changes. The fetus is also under constant sound exposure. Amniotic fluid transmits well to the unborn child all the sounds that occur in the mother's body and those surrounding it.

It should be noted that the fetus is able to respond to sound effects early enough. The first structures belonging to the future ear and auditory analyzer appear in the third week of embryonic development, and they complete their formation at 16 weeks. Starting at 24 weeks, the fetus actively responds to sounds. In the third trimester of pregnancy, a change in the rhythm of the heartbeat in response to a sharp sound is used during a cardiotocographic (CTG) study as an indicator of the well-being of the fetus.

At present, it has been proven that the fetus not only hears, but also remembers the sound phenomena with which it was in contact in utero. Children remember the mother's voice well and recognize it among the voices of other people. The famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin, whose parents were musicians, was convinced that many musical works which he remembered especially well were performed by his parents when he was still in the womb. King's College London fetal behavior researcher Michael Clements has shown that starting at 24 weeks, fetuses respond differently to classical and rock music. The music of Vivaldi and Mozart reduced motor activity, contributed to the transition of the fetus to a more relaxed state and falling asleep. Conversely, modern rock music, as well as the works of Beethoven and Brahms, increased the activity of the child. After birth, babies who listened to certain pieces of music in utero exhibited characteristic behavioral changes, suggesting that the music was familiar to them.

However, there is a sound that always accompanies the development of the fetus. This is the sound of running mother's heart. An acoustic assessment of the strength of sound vibrations reaching the fetus, carried out by American scientists, showed a rather rich and intense sound environment, the level of which varied from 35 to 96 decibels (db). A decibel is a unit of intensity or loudness of a sound. For example, the sound intensity during a normal conversation is about 60 dB., With a loud cry it reaches 100 dB.

The regularity, rhythmicity of the sound of a mother's beating heart is an important component of the normal conditions for the development of a child in the womb and is probably fixed for a long time in the memory of an adult. No wonder noise has such a calming effect on us. sea ​​waves, rhythmically running on the sandy beach. Many people fall asleep perfectly in the compartment of the train under the monotonous sound of wheels. Conversely, for many people falling asleep in complete silence is a problem.

The significance of the sound and rhythm of the working maternal heart was of interest to many researchers. The American child psychologist Lee Salk dealt with this problem most consistently in the 1950s and 1960s. He analyzed a large number of photographs of women holding children in their arms. Salk came to the conclusion that regardless of nationality and the leading hand (right or left), women preferred to hold the child with her head to her left breast. Most of the interviewed women explained this preference in the orientation of the newborn by the fact that in this position the child is more calm and falls asleep faster. This circumstance and a number of other observations allowed Salk to conclude that the relaxing, soothing effect of the sound of the mother's heart on a newborn child. Somewhat later, important observations were made on the significance of early intrauterine and postnatal memorization (imprinting) in shaping the behavior of a child and an adult. Salk suggested that artificially recreating the sound of a mother's beating heart would bring the baby back to a familiar sound environment and allow the newborn to calm down more quickly and improve his sleep. Since at that time there were no sufficiently reliable, and most importantly, commercially available methods for recording and reproducing high-quality phonocardiograms (recording of sound phenomena of the heart), Dr. Salk and his co-workers designed a sound generator that imitated the sound of a working maternal heart. Studies they conducted on newborns showed that children calm down faster against the background of such sound exposure. However, a number of other doctors did not confirm these results. Indeed, it turned out that for a newborn child, not only the rhythm is important, but also the individual sound features of the work of the mother's heart. Such features may be small noises and the timbre of heart tones, characteristic of this particular woman. Children very subtly distinguish these sounds, because they remember well the features of the mother's voice and do not react to any female voice.

Already in the 1980s and 1990s, American and Japanese pediatricians returned to the idea of ​​the therapeutic use of the mother's phonocardiogram in sick and premature babies. They showed that playing such newborns a recording of their mother's beating heart (and this time they played the heart sounds of their own mothers to the children) significantly reduced their release of stress hormones in response to injections and other medical manipulations. In such children, breathing was more calm and rhythmic, and tissue oxygen saturation was higher than in newborns who did not undergo sound therapy. Moreover, a very specific positive economic effect was obtained. Children who received additional sound treatment were discharged from the intensive care unit three days earlier, on average. And if we take into account that the day the child is in such a department costs about a thousand dollars, then the savings of three thousand in the treatment of each child were weighty argument for administrators of many American hospitals who have implemented this technology.

In parallel with these works, more numerous studies appeared in the world on the effect of special relaxing music on reducing psychological stress in adults. The most famous in this area is the French researcher Alfred Tomatis, who is actively developing methods of music therapy. Often such musical works include rhythmic sound sequences reminiscent of the pulsating sounds of blood flow in the placenta.

The Partner Center, which promotes and teaches natural, physiological methods of preparing and managing childbirth, decided to combine both of these approaches and offer parents in Yekaterinburg new program titled "Lullaby of a Mother's Heart". We have the opportunity to digitally record the phonocardiogram of a pregnant woman or mother using a professional device in the first three months after the birth of a child. The phonocardiogram will be recorded exactly in the frequency range that is characteristic of the sound perception of the child in utero. Then this sound range will be combined with any (at the choice of parents) relaxing music. At the same time, we can form two variants of such a soundtrack, when the music will be the background for the sounds of the mother's heart, and vice versa, the phonocardiogram can be the background for a louder musical fragment. As a result, we will be able to offer young parents a CD with three half-hour recordings:

• The sound of a working mother's heart;
• Relaxing music against the background of a working heart;
• The sound of the heart on the background of music.

In addition to the relaxing music offered, parents can bring their favorite melody, and we use it for recording on a disc.

Such music therapy is not a drug effect and can be safely used by parents at home. You can turn on such a recording before going to bed and develop a kind of reflex in the child to fall asleep to the sound of his mother's heart. There are indications that children calm down faster in cases intestinal colic if you listen to this kind of music. Finally, we hope that this lullaby will accompany your child into adulthood as well. He will be able to use this recording for insomnia and to relieve stress even when his mother is no longer around.

Considering great importance rhythmic influences for the prevention of respiratory disorders in sick and premature babies, this sound therapy can also be used to prevent the development of sudden death syndrome in children at risk (see the article about this syndrome on the Eka-mama website).

Of course, childbirth is a natural phenomenon. We are all born, live and are happy. But, nevertheless, if it is possible to help a newborn to adapt to this life to which he is not yet accustomed, then why not do it?

How to use music for newborns

There are two ways to keep your baby comfortable with music.

The first is - learn more about it by clicking on the link. Briefly: a pregnant woman, an expectant mother, regularly listens to classical works at a certain time. The baby, being inside the mother's womb, hears everything. If the mother enjoys music, then the child feels it. Because, against the background of the pleasure of music, even the composition of the blood changes a little, as the “hormone of happiness” is released. The baby feels very calm. Then he creates a reflex to the music that his mother listened to during pregnancy.

A newborn child, if he hears familiar melodies, remembers how cool he was under these sounds. Thus, when turning on certain music, such as classical music, he comes into a familiar state of peace and bliss. Moreover, among classical works There are still developing ones. So it makes sense to bother with music for newborns.

More advice. Just don't get carried away with too loud sounds. From loud music, the child does not calm down, but turns off, as from an irritant. This is not gud! Take care of your baby.

Another variant. You can give the cub to listen to ready-made tracks in which the sounds of music are put on the heartbeat. After all, being in the mother's tummy, the baby clearly heard her heart beating. After birth, he loses these sounds. And if you turn it on, let the newborn listen when he is awake, then you can bring pleasure to the baby and yourself.

Here are some tracks for newborns with a beating heart. Turn them on to your baby online for sleep or instead of a lullaby. Look at the baby's face, watch the facial expressions. Did the child fall asleep quickly with this music? Can it be called calming? Tell us about your newborn's reaction to heartbeat music by writing a comment.

Even before birth, the baby begins to hear sounds in the womb. If a woman attends a rock concert at 6 months of pregnancy, she will tell you that the baby was kicking very hard at that moment, and she had to go home much earlier. The basic sound of the mother's beating heart, which creates a low tone and beats at about 80 beats per minute, is used by doctors to calm nervous children. The mother's heartbeat supports the life of the fetus for 9 months, and when the mother lies nearby, the child already hears it. At this moment he is very happy, this is the most The best music for a child.
A low sound is picked up by the baby through the placenta better than a high one. The mother's voice, which is higher than all other sounds, is an exception. For example, her voice is higher than that of her father, because it comes from the mother's body, which is why the baby after birth immediately begins to respond to the mother's voice better than anyone else.

After the baby is born, he begins to perceive more high-pitched sounds, rather than low ones. We often hear adults talking to kids.<<кукольными>> feigned and high voices. If you slow down the shooting, we will immediately see that the child not only hears voices, but also dances to them. Satisfied and calm baby, who hears the mother's voice, makes very rhythmic movements with undulating movements of the handles. It can only be established on the camera that the child's movements coincide with the mother's speech in rhythm, you can see the correspondence of stress and pause. It can be called singing and music between mother and child.

Hearing of a newborn baby
The hearing of a newborn child is also trained since intrauterine life. There, the newborn heard the beating of the mother's heart, the umbilical cord, and various sounds from the outside. Although the auditory nerve does not fully develop until the end of the first year, the newborn child has a pronounced ability to hear from the neonatal period. He immediately distinguishes familiar voices from strangers.
Best of all, the hearing of a newborn child is tuned to the mother's voice, and this is not surprising, because he is already accustomed to her voice. Immediately after birth and for a few more days, the inner ear of a newborn baby is filled with fluid, softening the perception of the incredible variety of sounds that fall upon a newborn baby after birth.

The child turns his head in the direction from which the sound is coming. It has been established that a newborn child likes high frequencies more than bass. Many adults instinctively change the timbre of the voice to a higher one when talking with a child, because he likes such a voice more. Mom, talking to the child, cooing over him, renders him an invaluable service.

Human hearing is in direct combination with a unique function that no other creature on Earth possesses, the ability to understand language. The ability of a newborn to perceive and distinguish sounds is ideal. Starting from the stage of puberty, this ability begins to fade. So, ironically, from the moment when a person is able to truly appreciate the “stereo system” given to him from birth, he will no longer be able to use it.
At first, the best sounds for the baby will be the calm voices of relatives, to the sound of which he is already accustomed.