Alan, I thought you might be able to answer this question. Might sound a bit silly, but lets blame it on the pregnancy hormones shall we

Ok...I have a doppler at home, I have heard the heartbeat on it for a second or two as bub must have moved away. I can hear the blood flow through the umbilical cord very easy. So I was wondering, is it safe to assume if you have blood flow through the umbilical cord that there is a heartbeat? Would the blood flow sound stop if the heart stopped beating?
Hope this makes sense.
Thank you