Womb has a pulse?

[Bethandfreddie]

Hi! I would ask my midwife this but I haven't had one single midwife this whole pregnancy, it's always been a different one each time and I don't really think this is a cause to ring triage so I thought I would ask here.

I'm 29 months weeks pregnant, and I keep feeling a pulse quite low down in my stomach, and was wondering if this was normal? I get it quite often and don't know if it's a cause for concern?

Thank you!

There is a lot more blood circulating when you’re pregnant - your blood volume increases by around 50%! This can mean you’re more likely to feel your pulse in your abdomen. It can be normal but if you continue to be worried or have any other concerning symptoms definitely call triage! They are there to help, no matter if it doesn’t turn out to be a problem :)

It's the blood flow to and from the placenta, I imagine.

Could also be the baby having hiccups?

I used to feel mine pulsing too, was so weird! The other thing she'd do was vibrate. Not even intermittently like hiccups, but it felt like she was literally in there vibrating away some days!

It might just be hiccups. I'm 31 weeks and DD keeps having them. DS had them as well when I was pregnant with him. For me, they are really low down towards the right and there's a little "plop" every so often for a few minutes. Then there's nothing for hours or the rest of the day. 😁
DS then used to hiccup quite frequently after he was born. I'm expecting this one to be similar. It's nothing to worry about.

I have this (noticed it since around 18 weeks) and it’s the blood flow to and from the placenta! Can pick it up very clearly on a Doppler too.

I felt this with my DD and was the first “baby movements” I had. My DD had awful
hiccups the whole pregnancy so might be that

Could be your abdominal aorta. There's a massive blood vessel in your stomach and if it touches another organ it can vibrate through

I am physically active, I feel the pulse in the womb after I do certain exercises that work the pelvic area, so I presume it’s brought forward by increased blood flow in the area.

I often feel my pulse in my shoulders and my hands , it’s a pregnancy thing.
it is indeed linked to blood volume, like others said, we pump much more blood. Now, but it’s also linked to blood pressure. It’s not necessarily a reason for worries.

btw, placenta does indeed have a pulse, but it’s synchronous with the heart, it transmits our blood to feed the baby, and actually they listen to placenta’s pulse on the consultant scans for people with low Papp-A hormone (I have) to determine wether the placenta is working well or not really.

Thank you all for your replies! It's definitely not hiccups they feel different to this. I honestly never thought of the blood flow, that does make sense!

yeah it's definitely a different thing from hiccups - in this pregnancy and the last one I carried to term I could see my belly pulsing constantly! It's very weird but I guess it makes sense with how much blood is being pumped around that area. I remember with my daughter my partner putting his hand on my belly and saying "she's like a little machine!" ...erm, no, that's not the baby kicking, just the placenta pulsing away.