Guide

By 12 weeks, many handheld dopplers can pick up a steady fetal heartbeat between about 120 and 160 beats per minute.

With routine care, many parents first hear fetal heart sounds around 9 to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

An at-home handheld monitor lets you hear your baby’s heartbeat, but it should never replace regular prenatal visits or urgent medical assessment.

At about eight weeks of pregnancy, many scans can show steady cardiac activity that often reassures people about how early development is progressing.

A fast or slow early heartbeat cannot reliably reveal a baby’s sex at seven weeks of pregnancy.

Around 32 weeks, most babies move often through the day, and a clear drop or pause in those movements needs prompt contact with your maternity team.

Listening to your baby’s heartbeat with a handheld monitor can be reassuring when used correctly and alongside regular prenatal care.

At 10 weeks of pregnancy, your baby is about the size of a small strawberry, with forming organs, visible limbs, and a beating heart.

At 32 weeks, a baby usually weighs around 4 pounds, measures about 16 to 17 inches long, and shows stronger movements with maturing organs.

At four weeks of pregnancy, the tiny embryo is poppy-seed sized with a forming heart tube, neural tube, and early facial features.