An inside job

The statistics for the development of the heart of a foetus will have any prospective mom beaming from ear to ear. Dr Marise Pretorius, a gynaecologist and obstetrician from Bloemfontein, says even though we can’t see it on a sonar, a foetus’ heart starts beating at 22 days (when it’s still only an embryo measuring 1.25mm).

“Most of your baby’s organs develop between weeks four and eight. By the seventh week, your foetus already has a heart with four chambers like that of an adult,” she says.

At first the little heart puts out 20 to 25 beats per