How do I know my fetus is healthy?

The heart of the baby starts to beat around the fifth week of pregnancy. To confirm the heartbeat of your baby, the doctor may conduct a non-stress test. The test monitors the heart rate of the baby and provides information about the potential threat, if any. A healthy heartbeat is between 110 to 160 per minute.

What Are The Signs Of A Healthy Pregnancy:-

As mentioned above, a healthy mother is more likely to have a healthy baby and taking good care of your body is a good way to give birth to a healthy baby. If you are pregnant you must secure good antenatal care to preserve your health and that of your developing baby.


Consistent Growth Patterns

Good growth and development is the surest manner to keep track that your foetus is developing into a healthy baby. Having regular antenatal care helps your healthcare practitioner to plot your baby’s development and ensure that growth milestones are being achieved. On average a foetus can be expected to grow at a rate of about two inches per month. Generally, the average baby weighs around 3kg at the time of birth, but this figure is very dependent on the baby’s genetics.


Maternal Weight Gain

Attached to the development of the foetus is the weight gain and belly growth of the mother. At each antenatal appointment, your general practitioners will take your weight and measure the growth of your belly.


Foetal Movement

Your baby’s movements can usually be felt from about 5 months or 20 weeks and after some time you will start to notice a pattern to the movement. Your baby’s first movements are referred to medically as foetal quickening.

By the age of six months your baby will respond to sound by movement and by the time he or she is seven months old, he or she will respond to other stimuli such as light, pain or sound. By the time the baby has reached eight months of age he or she will have moved position and will be kicking much more actively. As your pregnancy approaches full term and the space in the womb is more restricted your baby will move less – simply because he is running out of room to do it.

Foetal Heartbeat

Another measure of a healthy pregnancy that will be taken consistently at your antenatal appointments is your baby’s heartbeat. Foetal heartbeats can be heard from the fifth week of pregnancy and will range from approximately 100 to 160 beats a minute. Your healthcare practitioner may perform a non stress test to evaluate whether your baby has a healthy heartbeat at a later stage of your pregnancy.


Foetal Position

During the last month of pregnancy your baby moves into a head first position as he or she gets ready for labour and delivery.