Hello. My wife is about 5 weeks pregnant. She went to the dry and they did a ultrasound and you could see the embrio but no heartbeat yet. I know it very early to detect the heartbeat. The Dr wants to see her every three days until they can detect the heartbeat. So I was wondering why would they want to see her that often if the heartbeat is not detectable for another few weeks. Is this normal? Has anybody else have Drs do this?

Thanks for all your help

I've never had a doctor do that. However, the heartbeat starts at 6 weeks so she's close to being able to see it his ultrasound.

That is odd. Usually they wait a full week. If it helps, this little bugger gave me a scare at 5w3d with just a yolk sac. But at 6w3d there he was with his heartbeat . Hang in there! The fact the fetal pole is already formed is excellent. My doctors wait a week so as not to cause the mom unnecessary worry

That does sound odd, you should ask him why he wants to do that. Some OBGYN do things differently though.

Are you using private health care? My only guess is they see it as a great way to make some money stressing you out about nothing. That would be the only reason. There's nothing you can do to make a baby develop properly at that stage if there are no known underlying issues and you can't prevent any developmental problems that might cause a pregnancy to not be viable. I had a missed miscarriage where baby stopped developing at 5 weeks and never got a heartbeat, just one of those things when something goes wrong in cell development and seeing my midwife or having more regular scans wouldn't have prevented it. It would have meant my care cost more (obviously in the NHS, so I'm not paying, but the hospital would have spent more money on me). If you're paying privately or through insurance, your doctor or hospital will just be making more money. You're likely to see a heartbeat in the next 2 weeks, but I wouldn't want to be going to the doctor that much, even with my history. It's time consuming and I think a bit invasive. Also, just because you see a heartbeat unfortunately doesn't mean things will turn out okay, and I'd be afraid it would just lead to even more monitoring and intervention throughout the rest of her pregnancy. I'd just say no thanks, we'll see you at our next regular appointment.

Wow I've never heard of that! With my others they always told me to come back in two weeks!

I'd ask. My OB had me come in once a week for a scan, and finally at about 15 weeks I told him no more. It cost a fortune and took too much time. He was sweet and was doing it for me for reassurance since I had had 3 previous miscarriages and i was of AMA (I found that out when I asked him why he was scanning me weekly), but I didn't need it at that point. Every 3 days seems excessive to me, but I'd ask why and then go from there.

That doesn't sound right I'd ask what the reason is for having so many, that's a bit excessive. If there is a reason for it then you need to be told why. I had a bad first pregnancy and was watched very closely but not like that. You weren't likely to see a hb yet and I'd bet in the next week or two it'll be there. If not and something goes wrong there's absolutely nothing that they can do so there's no need for so many visits. Most offices won't scan/see you until 8 weeks (in the states) unless you have prior complications or bleeding. Good luck!

I'd question why. My doctor likes to see me regularly but even that's only once a fortnight that goes to once a week in second tri. It seems a little excessive unless there's more to her medical history that we don't know about.