Chorevia

Day 158 of 280 · 22 weeks + 4 days

A stethoscope

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 10 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-two weeks and four days. Your baby's heartbeat can now be heard through a stethoscope, so at your next visit, ask to listen.

Size this week
about the size of a sweet potato
Length this week
around 27.8 cm from head to toe
A Black woman in a loose sweater with a rounded bump lying on an exam couch, laughing, as a midwife holds a stethoscope to her belly and her partner leans in beside her, bright clinic daylight.

Twenty-two weeks and four days. Today's note is about a sound: the one you've seen on a screen and maybe heard through a monitor, and can now hear in a quieter, older way.

Your baby

A single sweet potato on a plain white ceramic plate, soft daylight.

Around 27.8cm long from head to toe, about the size of a sweet potato (NHS). MedlinePlus marks this week with two milestones: by week 22 the heartbeat can be heard with a stethoscope, and meconium, the baby's first bowel movement, is being made (MedlinePlus). The lungs are developing too, and your baby practises breathing in the womb (NHS).

Back at 14 weeks, a midwife might hear the heartbeat with a handheld monitor (NHS). The stethoscope is the plain version of the same thing: no screen, just the sound.

Your body

Your follow-up visits check your blood pressure, your weight, the size of your abdomen, and the baby's heart rate (OWH). Visits come about monthly from weeks 4 through 28 (MedlinePlus), so the next one is likely your chance.

The whooping cough vaccine is on this week's NHS page: usually offered around week 20, available from week 16 to week 32 (NHS). The US timing is a little later. The CDC recommends Tdap, the vaccine that covers whooping cough, in every pregnancy, optimally between 27 and 36 weeks, along with a flu shot (CDC). Both are in the sources; your provider will tell you which schedule you're on.

Try today

  1. The stethoscope ask

    Time: 2 minutes now, 5 at the visit

    1. Find the date of your next appointment and write "heartbeat?" next to it, so the question doesn't get lost among the others.

    2. At the visit, ask whether you can listen to the heartbeat through a stethoscope or the handheld monitor. By week 22 it can be heard with a stethoscope (MedlinePlus).

    3. If your partner can come, ask whether they can listen too.

    4. While you're there, ask when your whooping cough (Tdap) vaccine is due (CDC).

    Make it work:

    If the room is busy and they can't stop for it, that's fine. The baby's heart rate is checked at visits anyway (OWH); just ask them to tell you the number.

Watch for

  • Normal

    swollen hands and feet, which are on this stage's symptom list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for sudden swelling in the hands or feet, or rapid weight gain, which may signal preeclampsia (OWH), and seek care immediately for extreme swelling of your hands or face (CDC).

  • Normal

    headaches, also on the list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for a headache that won't go away or gets worse over time, or one that comes with blurred vision or dizziness (CDC).

  • Normal

    an occasional tightening of the belly that fades; some contractions through the day are normal (NICHD).

    Call your provider

    or go to the hospital for six or more in one hour, or contractions every 10 minutes or more often (NICHD).

For you

You don't need a reason to ask for this. Hearing the heartbeat isn't a test you pass; it's part of what the visit already checks (OWH), so asking costs nothing.

If you're the partner: this is one of the few moments in a check-up that's built for two. Clear the hour, come along, and ask your own question while you're there.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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