Q: My wife is 65 days pregnant. I have taken a scan and the report shows that the fetal heart beat was not found. What is the necessary step to be taken?

A:The embryo shows a heartbeat about 24 days after the egg is fertilised by a sperm. Since all medical calculations in pregnancy are based on the date of the last menstrual period and because these are based on the presumption that most women have 28-days cycles it is presumed that an ultrasound anytime after 38 days of the last period will show an embryo and a beating heart. Not infrequently, however, because of normal biological variations, conception may be delayed and hence the heartbeat may not be evident. It is wise, therefore, to wait a week and repeat the ultrasound scan. If one week later the heartbeat is still not seen, the pregnancy is an unsuccessful one and will have to be aborted.