Will the fetus stop growing at seven months of pregnancy?

The reason why pregnant women need to undergo prenatal checkups is to rule out any abnormalities in the baby's body or fetal arrest. Since the baby's fetal image in the early stages of pregnancy is not very stable, the chance of fetal arrest in the early stages of pregnancy is much higher than in other stages. Seven months of pregnancy can be said to be in the late stage of pregnancy, but is it easy to have fetal arrest at seven months of pregnancy?

Will the fetus stop growing at seven months of pregnancy?

The development of the embryo is: the gestational sac is formed in 30-40 days, the fetal bud is formed in 40-50 days, and the fetal heart is formed in 50-60 days. Therefore, generally during the 60th day of pregnancy, an ultrasound examination can be performed to see whether the gestational sac, fetal bud, and fetal heart are normal. Generally speaking, the embryo can be seen by transabdominal B-ultrasound at six weeks of pregnancy, and the primitive heart tube pulsation can usually be seen at seven weeks of pregnancy. Vaginal B-ultrasound may be done earlier. As for the size of the embryo, the pulsation of the primitive heart tube can be seen when the diameter of the embryo is 2 mm. Of course, this is a general situation. The clarity of the ultrasound machine and the examination experience of the ultrasound doctor also vary, and there are also individual differences between embryos. However, when the crown-rump length of the embryo is >5 mm and there is still no heart tube beating, it often indicates fetal death. If there is no special medical history or abnormal symptoms such as vaginal bleeding or abdominal pain, we often recommend waiting until about seven weeks of pregnancy to do an ultrasound, because the presence of fetal heartbeat can confirm a live fetus. Before that, we cannot confirm the survival of the embryo even if we see the appearance of the gestational sac, yolk sac or even the embryo. However, for women with irregular menstruation or who cannot remember their last menstrual period, we may not be able to accurately determine the gestational age. If the B-ultrasound shows that the embryo is seen but the heart tube pulsation is not seen, the B-ultrasound can be repeated one week later. If the heart tube pulsation is still not seen after one week, it is highly suspected that the embryo has stopped developing.

Why does the embryo still stop growing even though there is a fetal heartbeat and fetal bud?

The HCG level is not high enough. When planting trees, if the roots are very small, like trees in the desert, the tree will not grow into a big tree and will easily die during the growth process. Therefore, lush roots are the basic condition for a tree to grow into a big tree. The same is true for pregnancy. The fetal heartbeat and fetal bud appear, but the villi do not grow vigorously. Once the fetus continues to grow, it is still easy for the fetus to arrest. To see whether the villi are growing vigorously, we mainly look at the HCG value. In a normal pregnancy, HCG should reach 100,000 or higher before 70 days of pregnancy. If the HCG is too low, the fetus will stop growing. According to the experience in recent years, even if many fetal heartbeats and fetal buds appear, but the HCG is only 10,000-20,000, the fetus will eventually stop growing. In the medical records of preserving pregnancy, the lowest level of HCG that can allow a fetus to reach full term is 50,000.

Therefore, for pregnant women with a history of fetal arrest, in addition to B-ultrasound to check whether the fetal heart rate appears, it is generally necessary to monitor the increase in HCG. If HCG rises slowly, find the cause in time and try your best to treat it. Because the roots start to grow from the moment the seeds are planted, the process of root growth is the best time for treatment. If it is 50-60 days after menopause and the villi growth is completed, if the HCG is found to be low at this time, the effect of further treatment will be poor. Therefore, for patients with recurrent miscarriage, it is generally necessary to check the cause before pregnancy, and intervention should be made immediately after pregnancy. Therefore, it is generally recommended that recurrent patients come for treatment on the day or the next day after knowing they are pregnant. HCG monitoring should be performed at least twice a week during early pregnancy.