The journey of pregnancy is filled with anticipation and wonder. Expectant parents eagerly await physical signs, finding joy in sensing the growing presence within. This natural desire to connect with the baby drives questions about sensations that can be felt from outside the womb.
What Sensations You Can Feel
As pregnancy progresses, individuals experience various physical sensations from the developing baby. The first movements, often called “quickening,” typically feel like gentle flutters, gas bubbles, or a fish swimming, usually beginning between 16 and 22 weeks. These sensations become more distinct, evolving into noticeable kicks, rolls, and stretches as the baby grows stronger.
Partners and loved ones may begin to feel these movements from outside the belly, generally between 20 and 28 weeks. The visibility and strength of these external movements vary based on factors such as the pregnant person’s abdominal wall thickness or the baby’s position. As the baby occupies more space, full-body movements can even cause the belly to visibly undulate.
How a Baby’s Heartbeat is Detected
Medical professionals use specialized tools to detect a baby’s heartbeat, providing information about fetal well-being. A common method involves a fetal Doppler, a handheld ultrasound device used during prenatal visits. This device sends high-frequency sound waves that bounce off the baby’s heart and blood cells, detecting changes in frequency (the Doppler effect) and converting them into an audible sound, often heard as a rapid “whooshing” or “pitter-patter.”
A baby’s heart begins to form and pulse around 5 to 6 weeks of gestation, and this early cardiac activity can often be seen with a transvaginal ultrasound. An abdominal ultrasound can usually detect the heartbeat by 7 weeks. A Doppler typically picks up the heartbeat between 10 and 12 weeks of pregnancy. The normal fetal heart rate ranges from 110 to 160 beats per minute, which is significantly faster than an adult’s.
Why Feeling the Heartbeat by Hand is Challenging
While feeling a baby’s movements is a tangible experience, detecting their heartbeat with bare hands on the abdomen is generally not possible. The primary reason lies in the multiple layers of tissue between the abdomen and the tiny, developing heart. These layers include skin, fat, and uterine muscle, which cushion and obscure the faint pulsations.
The baby is also protected within the fluid-filled amniotic sac inside the uterus, further dampening any external tactile sensations. A baby’s heart is small, especially in early pregnancy, and its rapid beat is not strong enough to create a palpable pulse through these considerable layers of maternal and fetal tissues. Attempting to feel a heartbeat manually can often lead to mistaking a maternal pulse for the baby’s, as the abdominal area contains many of the parent’s own blood vessels.