Foetal heart murmur - worried

I've just been for my 38 wk review this morning, which seemed to go well, however the GP just rang me to tell me that he heard a heart murmur when he listened to the baby's heart with the stethoscope. He then said he was a bit concerned as he hadn't heard this in 25 yrs of practice, so he consulted with someone else. They have now referred me to a specialist for an U/S next week (she is an Obs who only does U/S now) and I'm starting to get really worried. Has anyone else had this? What could it mean? Now I'm panicking and stressed in case there is something really wrong with our baby, and it has never been picked up. What could this mean for our plans to deliver naturally locally?

Help!!!!

Hi Feathertop,

At my 20 week scan, the sonographer picked up an irregular heartbeat. I had to wait 1 week before going back to have another u/s to see if it was still a problem or not. (It wasn't, however If the problem was still there, they said they would have referred me onto a specialist.)
I know it is difficult not to be worried, but until they do the next u/s, you won't really know anything. If you are truly concerned, I would ring your OBS to discuss your fears and see if they can tell you what the next steps are if the u/s still shows a heart murmur.
Good luck to you and bubs.

Hi Feathertop, sorry I dont have any experience with this but wanted to say good luck, it must be scary to have to go thru it all. I do know of quite a lot of people with heart murmurs (my DH is one of them and a few friends) so hopefully that means it is not too major a deal... sorry I am not much help but thinking of you.

Hope everything goes well for you Feathertop.

Unsure if this is of any relevance, but our 27-weeker daughter was born with a heart murmur - she was a bit anaemic because of this at the start and was on iron tablets, however the heart murmur self-resolved within a couple of months.

Also, my brother-in-law, now an adult, was born with a heart murmur and didn't have problems from it.

Hi Feathertop,
Sorry to hear you are worried.
My firstborn was born with a heart mumur - an ejection one, which the DRs keep an eye on but we are hoping he will grow out of it. DH also had a heart murmur which was only found when he was 16. He had it checked out recently and the DR couldn't find any sign of it.
I think it is relatively common and does not necessarily mean that there is any problem.
Good luck and hope you find answers soon and fingers crossed that everything is fine.
GIDGET.

Hi Feathertop. A heart mumur simply describes the sound that the blood makes when it flows through the heart. Some are innocent and some are more severe, requiring treatment. My eldest DD was born with a small VSD (hole) in her heart which was picked up at the 20wk scan and and she had a heart murmur because of it. She has since lost the murmur and the hole had closed over by the time she was born. I myself have a heart murmur too. It really is no big deal to have one and I am sure that your OB will investigate it further.

hi there, i had the same experience as Sherie. I had a small hole in the heart (vsd) when I was born, which resulted in a heart murmur. The hole closed over by itself witihn a few months. My second son was born with the same thing, which had not closed over 6 weeks after birth but was so small as to not be of too much concern to the specialist. In fact, he didnt recommend any action and said he would see us again when my son was about to start school.
I hope all is ok for you and your baby at the next check.

beccas