How to Diagnose Congenital Heart Defects in the Baby During Pregnancy
Considering a number of mothers have received the diagnosis during their pregnancy, what are the screening tests performed to determine if a child has a congenital heart anomaly?
Routine ultrasound
Congenital heart defects may be first suspected during the routine ultrasound scan, when the doctor hears the baby’s heartbeat.
The normal fetal heart rate is 120 to 160 beats per minute. However, fetal heart rate may deviate from this range and still be healthy:
- Some fetuses have a heart rate of less than 90 and still be okay.
- It’s common for the heart rate to drop by 5 to 10 beats per minute during ultrasound.
- Some may have premature beats that don’t cause any problem and clear up after being born.
Of course, detecting problematic bradycardia (slow heart rate) or tachycardia (fast heart rate) is still crucial because treatment for these can be administered while the mother is still pregnant.
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