Is Tachycardia in Pregnancy Common?
The faster than normal heart rate experienced by some women is called tachycardia in pregnancy or heart palpitations. Normal adult heart beat ranges from 60 to 100 beats a minute when the person is resting. Pregnant women experience a significantly higher rates for short periods of time and this is not abnormal or a cause for concern. Heart rate is monitored or controlled by electrical signals which are sent across the tissues of the heart. When an abnormality of the heart produces rapid electrical signals it is diagnosed as tachycardia. In this very technical sense the accelerated heart rate of a mother-to-be cannot be called tachycardia in pregnancy. The symptom associated with tachycardia in pregnancy is when a woman experiences an increased awareness of the beating of her heart. This sensation is mostly palpable in the chest although other places such as the neck and throat where one senses the pulse may also give a sense of the heightened blood flow. It can be an alarming sensatio
