Patient's question:
I have an itchy lower body, and my underwear is always yellow. What's going on? Do the heartbeats of male and female babies differ?Doctor's answer:
Normal pregnancy starts with fetal heart monitoring once a week from the 37th week of gestation. If there are complications or comorbidities, it can begin as early as the 28th to 30th week of pregnancy. Attention should be paid to whether the fetal heartbeat rhythm is erratic, such as suddenly speeding up or slowing down. A normal fetal heartbeat rate is 120–160 beats per minute. If the fetal heartbeat rate exceeds 160 beats per minute or remains consistently below 100 beats per minute, it indicates fetal hypoxia in the uterus and requires timely treatment.The widely used Doppler high-sensitivity instruments can detect a heartbeat that sounds like a galloping horse as early as the 10th or 12th week of pregnancy. However, some hospitals may still use regular stethoscopes, in which case it may take until the 17th or 18th week to track the fetal heartbeat. In some cases during early pregnancy, due to the position of the fetus or other interfering factors, such as excessive maternal fat, even highly precise instruments may fail to detect the fetal heartbeat.