You are lying in bed at night, or sitting quietly after lunch, and suddenly you can feel your heart. It is beating faster than usual, or it seems to skip and then give one hard thump. You put your hand on your chest, count, and start to wonder whether something is wrong with your heart, or whether it could affect the baby.
I’m Dr. Suganya Venkat, and in fifteen years as an OB-GYN I have had this conversation with many pregnant women. For most of them, a faster or more noticeable heartbeat is part of how the body adapts to pregnancy. A smaller number have a cause worth finding, such as low haemoglobin, an overactive thyroid or too much tea and coffee, and a few have a heart rhythm problem that needs a cardiologist. The good news is that the signs which separate these groups are clear, and the tests are simple.
Here is what this post covers:
- Why your heart beats faster in pregnancy, and by how much
- What harmless palpitations usually feel like
- Common, checkable causes that make palpitations worse
- Simple things you can do today
- The signs that need an ECG or an urgent hospital visit
Why Your Heart Beats Faster in Pregnancy
During pregnancy your body is supplying blood to the uterus, the placenta and your baby, as well as to you. To do this, the volume of blood in your body increases and your heart pumps more blood every minute. One of the ways it manages that is by beating a little faster.
How much faster? A large analysis that pooled 39 studies and heart rate readings from 8,317 healthy pregnant women found that the average resting heart rate rose from about 79 beats per minute at 10 weeks to about 87 beats per minute at 40 weeks, an average increase of 7.6 beats per minute (Loerup L et al., BMC Med, 2019, PMID 31506067). The authors noted that this rise was smaller than the figure many textbooks quote.
So a resting pulse in the 80s, sometimes nudging towards 90 in late pregnancy, is within the usual range. What many women notice is less the number itself and more the awareness of it. When you are lying on your side at night, with fewer distractions, you simply feel your heart more.
What Harmless Palpitations Usually Feel Like
“Palpitations” is the word doctors use for being aware of your own heartbeat. Women describe it in different ways:
- A heart that feels like it is racing or pounding, especially after climbing stairs, a big meal or a stressful moment
- A fluttering feeling in the chest or throat
- A skipped beat followed by one strong thump
A clinical review of palpitations in pregnancy notes that they are common, that they can come from causes outside the heart as well as from the heart itself, and that isolated extra beats (ectopic beats) do not need treatment (Saeed F et al., Clin Med, 2025, PMID 39694094). A 2025 review of heart rhythm problems in pregnancy adds that the most frequent ones are a faster normal rhythm (sinus tachycardia) and these extra beats, which are often benign and settle after delivery (Roelas M et al., JRSM Cardiovasc Dis, 2025, PMID 41322477).
Palpitations are more likely to be harmless when they:
- Come on with effort, a heavy meal, anxiety or tea and coffee, and settle within a few minutes of rest
- Feel like occasional skipped or extra beats, not a long run of rapid beating
- Happen without chest pain, fainting or breathlessness at rest
- Come in a woman with no known heart condition
Common Causes You Can Check
Some everyday causes make the heart work harder. Each of these is easy to test for or change, so they are worth looking at before anyone worries about the heart itself.
Low haemoglobin (anaemia)
When haemoglobin is low, the blood carries less oxygen with each beat, and the heart compensates by beating faster. Anaemia is very common in pregnancy in India, so if palpitations come with tiredness, pale inner eyelids or getting breathless on small effort, ask for a haemoglobin and ferritin test. Our guide to haemoglobin levels in pregnancy explains what the numbers mean and what to do when Hb is low.
An overactive thyroid
An overactive thyroid can speed up the heart, and in pregnancy it can be confused with the normal changes. A simple TSH and free T4 blood test sorts this out. If you already have a thyroid condition, or the test comes back abnormal, read our post on hyperthyroidism in pregnancy for how it is diagnosed and treated alongside your obstetric care.
Tea, coffee and other stimulants
Many of us start the day with filter coffee or a strong cup of chai and have two or three more by evening. Caffeine can make the heart feel jumpy, and pregnancy slows down how quickly your body clears it. Our post on caffeine in pregnancy gives practical limits for tea and coffee. Cold and cough remedies containing decongestants can also speed up the heart, so check with your doctor before taking any over-the-counter medicine.
Dehydration, fever and vomiting
Not drinking enough water, a fever, or a bout of vomiting in early pregnancy all lower the volume of fluid in your blood vessels, and the heart beats faster to keep up. Palpitations that come with dizziness on standing are often of this kind. If dizziness is the main thing you notice, our post on dizziness in pregnancy covers it in detail.
Anxiety and poor sleep
Pregnancy brings a lot to think about, and worry itself releases adrenaline, which speeds up the heart. Then the racing heart causes more worry. This loop is very real, and naming it often helps. If anxiety is part of the picture, our guide to panic attacks explains what is happening in the body and what helps.
💜 Feeling your heart racing and not sure whether it is normal? Message Dr. Suganya on WhatsApp to book a ₹399 video consultation. Share your weeks of pregnancy, your latest haemoglobin and thyroid reports, and when the palpitations happen. If you have any of the urgent signs listed further down, go to your hospital first.
What You Can Do Today
These steps help with the common, harmless kind of palpitations:
- Sit or lie down on your left side and breathe slowly when an episode starts. Most settle within a few minutes.
- Drink water through the day, more if it is hot or you have been vomiting. Tender coconut water and buttermilk also count.
- Cut back on tea and coffee, and avoid energy drinks completely.
- Eat smaller, regular meals. A very heavy meal can bring on a pounding heart.
- Keep taking your iron and thyroid tablets (such as levothyroxine) exactly as prescribed, and do not stop them on your own because you feel unwell. The exception is an antithyroid medicine for an overactive thyroid (carbimazole, methimazole or propylthiouracil): if you develop a fever, sore throat or mouth ulcers while taking it, stop that medicine and see a doctor straight away for an urgent blood count, as these can be signs of a serious drop in white blood cells.
- Keep a short note on your phone: the date, time, what you were doing, how long it lasted, and your pulse if you can count it for 30 seconds and double it. This is the single most useful thing you can bring to your doctor.
When You Need an ECG or a Doctor’s Review
Some palpitations need a closer look, not because something is wrong, but because a simple test can settle the question. The 2025 review above points out that the most useful test is often a recording of the heart rhythm at the time of symptoms, along with a careful history and an ECG (Roelas M et al., JRSM Cardiovasc Dis, 2025, PMID 41322477). Your doctor may suggest a 12-lead ECG, a 24-hour Holter monitor, and blood tests for haemoglobin and thyroid.
Book a review within a few days if:
- Palpitations happen often, or are getting more frequent
- Episodes last more than a few minutes, or start and stop suddenly like a switch
- Your resting pulse is regularly above 100 beats per minute
- You have a known heart condition, a past heart rhythm problem, or a family member who died suddenly at a young age
- Palpitations come with tiredness, weight loss, a tremor or heat intolerance
A sudden, fast, regular rhythm that switches on and off is sometimes a condition called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). It is uncommon: in a study of 141,769 women with structurally normal hearts admitted in labour, 122 had a confirmed SVT diagnosis (Bekiaridou A et al., JACC Clin Electrophysiol, 2024, PMID 38661600). When it does happen, it is treatable, and the review notes that many heart rhythm medicines are safe in pregnancy (Saeed F et al., Clin Med, 2025, PMID 39694094). A cardiologist and your obstetrician work on this together.
Go to hospital straight away if palpitations come with:
- Chest pain or tightness
- Fainting, or feeling that you are about to faint
- Breathlessness at rest, or breathlessness when lying flat
- A pulse that stays very fast at rest and does not settle
- Swelling of one leg, or coughing up blood
Call 108 or 112 if you collapse, cannot speak in full sentences, or your lips look blue or grey.
If breathlessness is your main symptom, our post on shortness of breath in pregnancy explains which kinds are normal and which need a check.
After Delivery
The faster heart rate of pregnancy usually settles in the weeks after your baby is born. Palpitations that begin or get worse in the months after delivery, especially with swollen ankles, needing more pillows to sleep, or tiring very quickly, should be checked promptly. An overactive phase of postpartum thyroid inflammation can also speed up the heart; our post on postpartum thyroiditis explains the signs.
What It Is Called in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu
Many women search for this in their own language, often typed in Roman letters:
| Language | Common search terms |
|---|---|
| Hindi | Dil ki dhadkan tez (दिल की धड़कन तेज़); pregnancy me dil ki dhadkan tez hona; ghabrahat |
| Tamil | Nenju padapadappu (நெஞ்சு படபடப்பு); pregnancy la heart vegama adikkudhu |
| Telugu | Gunde dadaga; pregnancy lo gunde vegam ga kottukovadam |
| English (search) | Heart palpitations in pregnancy; racing heart pregnancy; fast heartbeat pregnancy |
When you speak to your doctor, saying “I am pregnant, I can feel my heart racing, and this is when it happens” is enough to begin.
Practical Takeaways
- A slightly faster heart is normal in pregnancy. On average, resting heart rate rises by about 7 to 8 beats per minute between early and late pregnancy.
- Occasional skipped or extra beats are common and usually harmless.
- Check the simple causes first: haemoglobin, thyroid, caffeine, hydration and sleep.
- Keep taking prescribed iron and thyroid medicines, except that an antithyroid medicine (carbimazole, methimazole or propylthiouracil) should be stopped, with a doctor seen straight away, if you develop fever, sore throat or mouth ulcers.
- Write down each episode with time, trigger, duration and pulse.
- Ask for an ECG if episodes are frequent, long, start and stop suddenly, or your resting pulse stays above 100.
- Go to hospital straight away for palpitations with chest pain, fainting or breathlessness at rest.
For a broader view of looking after yourself through the nine months, see our pregnancy week-by-week guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are heart palpitations normal in pregnancy? (Pregnancy me dil ki dhadkan tez hona normal hai?)
Yes, for most women. Your blood volume rises and your heart pumps more blood every minute, so it beats a little faster. Pooled data from over 8,000 healthy pregnant women showed the average resting heart rate rising from about 79 to about 87 beats per minute across pregnancy. Palpitations that settle with rest and come without chest pain or fainting are usually harmless.
Can a fast heartbeat be an early sign of pregnancy?
Heart rate begins to change early in pregnancy, so some women do notice their heart more in the first trimester. Vomiting and not drinking enough can add to it at this stage. On its own, though, a fast heartbeat is not a reliable sign of pregnancy; a pregnancy test is.
What heart rate is too high in pregnancy?
A resting pulse in the 80s, or close to 90 in late pregnancy, is within the usual range. A resting pulse that is regularly above 100 beats per minute is worth discussing with your doctor, who may check your haemoglobin, thyroid and an ECG. A very fast pulse at rest that does not settle, or one that comes with chest pain or fainting, needs a hospital visit straight away.
Do palpitations harm my baby?
The common, harmless kind does not. Your baby’s heart has its own rhythm, separate from yours. Rhythm problems that need treatment are uncommon, and when they are found, many heart medicines can be used safely in pregnancy under a cardiologist’s care.
Can low haemoglobin cause palpitations in pregnancy?
Yes. When haemoglobin is low, each heartbeat carries less oxygen, so the heart beats faster to make up for it. You may also feel tired and breathless. A haemoglobin and ferritin test is simple, and treating anaemia usually eases the palpitations.
Is it safe to drink tea or coffee if I have palpitations?
Caffeine can make the heart feel jumpy, and your body clears it more slowly in pregnancy. If you notice palpitations after tea or coffee, cut back and see whether they settle. Avoid energy drinks entirely.
What tests will the doctor do for palpitations in pregnancy?
Usually a pulse and blood pressure check, a 12-lead ECG, and blood tests for haemoglobin and thyroid. If episodes are frequent, a 24-hour Holter monitor can record the rhythm while it happens. These tests are safe in pregnancy and involve no radiation.
You Do Not Have to Work It Out Alone
Most palpitations in pregnancy turn out to be your heart doing extra work for two. When you are unsure, a short conversation and a few simple tests can give you a clear answer. At Fertilia, a video consultation with Dr. Suganya Venkat lets you go through your episode notes, your blood reports and any medicines you take, and decide together whether an ECG or a cardiologist’s opinion is needed.
💜 Want a doctor to go through your palpitations with you? Message Dr. Suganya on WhatsApp to book a ₹399 video consultation, available online across India. You can also download our free pregnancy guide for week-by-week support through each trimester.
