Why is fetal heartbeat so fast

Specific arrhythmias: Diagnosis and treatment. In DL Mann et al. Philadelphia: Saunders. Page RL, et al. DOI: Accessed September 23, Credits Current as of: August 31, Top of the page Next Section: Related Information. Previous Section: References Top of the page. Current as of: August 31, In the majority of cases, a normal delivery at your local hospital is possible.

Your obstetric team and the fetal team at GOSH will discuss the safest mode of delivery for you and your baby, and this may include the possibility of early delivery before 37 weeks or a Caesarean section may be advised. After birth, babies usually do very well even though you took medication during pregnancy.

After your baby is born, we recommend that they have an electrocardiogram ECG to check their heart rhythm. The doctors looking after your baby will then talk to you about whether any further treatment or monitoring is needed. In either situation, a period of monitoring will be required and in most cases medications are still used to control the fast heart rate. Your baby will be referred to a paediatric cardiologist who will review your baby, ECG and ECHO results and will help to manage the medications your baby needs.

Occasionally more than one medication is required. Before birth, please call the Fetal Cardiac Nurse Specialists on or send them an email to gos-tr. After birth, you can call the Electrophysiology team on extension or send an email to gos. The process requires not only an abundance of milk but also oxygen, and it produces large amounts of carbon dioxide as waste.

Babies' hearts work overtime to keep supplying oxygen and removing carbon dioxide to fuel their amazing growth. But growth isn't the only factor, because it's not just baby animals we're talking about. Adult Chihuahuas have much higher heart rates than adult elephants. Chihuahuas have a greater surface to volume ratio. In other words, the Chihuahua has a greater proportion of skin than internal tissue, which means it loses more heat to the environment, relatively speaking, than a larger animal.

Babies' hearts beat much faster than their parents', both to fuel their growth and make up for greater heat loss to the environment. Prompt referral to a fetal cardiac center is vital for accurate, thorough diagnosis of the type of tachyarrhythmia and any related conditions, ensuring proper treatment. Treatment during pregnancy will depend on the type of tachyarrhythmia, gestational age of the baby, any associated conditions, and if there are signs of hydrops.

When treatment is required, the goal is to control the speed of the fetal heart rate and prevent the development of hydrops, enabling delivery at term. Delivery should take place at a center with the highest quality congenital heart program, ensuring the expertise and resources required to treat fetal arrhythmias during delivery and after birth, including an advanced neonatal or cardiac intensive care unit NICU or CICU , if needed.

Delivery and postnatal care should be carefully planned and coordinated across a team of maternal-fetal medicine specialists, cardiologists and neonatologists experienced in these rare conditions. In some cases, a caesarean delivery may be advised. Here, the pediatric cardiologists treating your baby have been an integral part of their care team since before birth.