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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
Call 112 now, or go straight to your maternity unit, if any of these apply
Call 112 immediately, and do not drive yourself, if you are pregnant or recently gave birth and you have:
- chest pain, pressure, squeezing or heaviness, especially if it spreads to your arm, jaw, neck or back, or comes with sweating or nausea;[4]
- severe breathlessness at rest, breathlessness that wakes you at night, or being unable to lie flat without gasping;
- fainting or collapse, particularly during exertion, or palpitations that come with fainting, near-fainting or chest pain;
- sudden sharp chest pain with breathlessness, or coughing up blood, especially if one calf is also swollen or painful (possible lung clot);
- a racing heartbeat that will not stop and is making you feel unwell, faint or breathless.
Contact your maternity unit or midwife urgently the same day if you have new breathlessness on mild activity that is clearly worsening, new swelling with a severe headache or vision changes (possible pre-eclampsia, which has its own warning signs), or a known heart condition and any new or worsening symptom.[3] Calling 112 for symptoms that turn out to be harmless is the correct use of 112; pregnancy is exactly when nobody should wait and see.
- Treated online: Assessment online; this condition usually needs in-person or urgent care.
- Palpitations without red flags are common and usually harmless in pregnancy.
- Blood volume rises by up to half in pregnancy and the resting pulse runs roughly 10 to 20 beats faster.
- Breathlessness lying flat, a night cough, new swelling and exhaustion can signal rare peripartum cardiomyopathy, needing urgent echocardiography.
- Call 112 for chest pain, breathlessness at rest or fainting; known heart conditions need obstetric cardiology follow-up.
A video consultation is appropriate only when none of the emergency features above apply. If you have a known heart condition (congenital heart disease, a valve problem, a previous cardiomyopathy or arrhythmia), your pregnancy should be looked after jointly by obstetric and cardiology specialists; an online doctor can explain, check symptoms and route you, but never replaces that team.
Are heart palpitations normal in pregnancy?
Usually, yes. In pregnancy, blood volume rises by up to half, the heart pumps more with every beat, and the resting pulse runs faster, so brief flutters, skipped beats and pounding after stairs are common and usually harmless.[1] Palpitations with chest pain, breathlessness or fainting are the exception and need urgent in-person assessment. How cardiac care in pregnancy is organised varies by country, and assessment is always individual.
How an online consultation helps with heart problems in pregnancy
- Sorting normal from not: the doctor knows what a healthy pregnant heart feels like from the inside (faster, louder, more noticeable) and matches your story against the patterns that genuinely need tests.
- Emergency screening first: every consultation about the heart in pregnancy starts with the red-flag list above, and if your answers change the picture mid-call, the doctor stops and sends you to 112 or your maternity unit there and then.
- The right test, not every test: if you need an ECG, blood tests for anaemia or thyroid problems, or an echocardiogram, you leave knowing which one, where to get it, and how urgently.
- Specialist honesty: pregnancies with known heart disease belong with a joint obstetric cardiology team. If that is you, the doctor says so plainly and helps you get there, rather than managing something a video call should not manage.
What the doctor checks in an online consultation about heart problems in pregnancy
Palpitations and heart symptoms are assessed through the story first, and the story works well by video. The doctor will typically check:
- The exact pattern: when the sensations started, whether they begin and end suddenly or drift in and out, and whether the beat feels fast and regular, irregular, or like single skipped thumps. Tapping the rhythm out on the desk genuinely helps.
- Red flags, systematically: chest pain, breathlessness out of proportion to pregnancy, fainting or near-fainting, and symptoms during exertion, each asked directly.[2]
- How pregnant you are: the stage changes the differential, from early-pregnancy sinus tachycardia to late-pregnancy breathlessness that needs distinguishing from heart failure.
- Triggers and fuels: caffeine and energy drinks, decongestant cold remedies, salbutamol inhalers, dehydration, standing quickly, and broken sleep.
- Contributing conditions: symptoms of anaemia and thyroid overactivity, both common in pregnancy and both treatable causes of a racing heart; our page on tiredness in pregnancy covers the blood tests that check them.
- Your cardiac history: murmurs mentioned in childhood, congenital heart disease, rheumatic fever, previous pregnancy heart problems, and any family history of sudden unexplained death at a young age, which always raises the bar for testing.[1]
- Anxiety, honestly: panic and a pounding heart travel together in pregnancy. Anxiety is a real diagnosis reached after the cardiac questions, never instead of them.
Why does pregnancy make your heart work harder?
Pregnancy is a cardiovascular training programme nobody signed up for. Blood volume expands substantially from early pregnancy, the heart pumps out considerably more per minute, and the resting heart rate climbs by roughly 10 to 20 beats.[1] Blood pressure often dips in mid-pregnancy before returning towards booking levels. All of this is normal physiology, and it explains why a healthy pregnant woman can feel her heartbeat in bed at night, notice pounding after one flight of stairs, and feel flutters that never troubled her before. Extra, early or skipped beats (ectopics) become more noticeable and more frequent, and in an otherwise well woman with a normal examination they are benign.
Common and usually harmless
Sinus tachycardia (a fast but normal rhythm), occasional ectopic beats, and awareness of a forceful heartbeat are the overwhelming majority of palpitations in pregnancy.[2] They are made worse by caffeine, dehydration, fever, anaemia and anxiety, and better by treating those. They do not need heart medication; they need explanation, which is itself treatment for the worry they cause.
Uncommon but important
A minority of palpitations are true arrhythmias. Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) can appear for the first time, or worsen, in pregnancy: episodes of a sudden-onset, rapid, regular pounding that stops as abruptly as it starts. It is diagnosable on an ECG and treatable, including during pregnancy, and deserves proper assessment rather than reassurance.[1] Rarer still, and worth naming because early treatment changes everything, is peripartum cardiomyopathy: a weakness of the heart muscle appearing towards the end of pregnancy or in the months after birth.[5] Its signature is breathlessness lying flat or at night, a persistent cough, new swelling, and exhaustion beyond anything expected, and it needs an urgent echocardiogram, not watchful waiting.[1]
Do I need an ECG for palpitations in pregnancy?
Sometimes. An ECG is needed when palpitations are sustained, start and stop abruptly, happen during exertion, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or fainting, and whenever there is known heart disease or a family history of sudden death.[2] Brief occasional flutters in a well woman with none of those features often need no test at all. Be clear about the limit: no video call can record your heart rhythm. What an online doctor does is decide, with you, whether an ECG is needed and how fast, then point you to the nearest right place, which may be your midwife, a local practice or a hospital clinic depending on your country.
Heart symptoms in pregnancy: what needs which care
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Presentation | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When referral or in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief flutters or skipped beats, well in between, no red flags | Explanation, trigger review (caffeine, sleep, hydration), safety-net advice | Usually yes | If episodes become sustained, exertional, or red flags appear |
| Sudden-onset rapid regular pounding lasting minutes, stopping abruptly | ECG and in-person assessment for possible SVT | Initial direction only | Promptly; urgently if faintness or chest pain accompanies it[2] |
| Chest pain, breathlessness at rest, fainting or collapse | Emergency care | No | Call 112 now |
| Breathless lying flat, night cough, new swelling in late pregnancy or after birth | Same-day assessment with echocardiogram (possible peripartum cardiomyopathy) | No | Same day, via maternity unit or emergency care[1] |
| Known heart condition, pregnant or planning pregnancy | Joint obstetric cardiology (pregnancy heart team) review | Explanation and routing only | Throughout pregnancy; ideally starting before conception[1] |
Availability of individual medicines and who may prescribe them vary by country; your doctor confirms what applies where you are.
No emergency features, but your heart still will not settle? A doctor can tell you in one consultation.
See available times →Treatment options for heart problems in pregnancy
What you can do yourself
For assessed, benign palpitations: cut caffeine and energy drinks, drink enough through the day, stand up slowly, rest lying on your side rather than flat on your back in later pregnancy, and protect sleep as far as a pregnancy allows. Slow breathing out longer than in settles the adrenaline loop when flutters spike anxiety. Avoid decongestant cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, which can drive the heart rate and are best avoided in pregnancy anyway; ask a pharmacist or doctor for alternatives.
Prescription treatment
Most palpitations in pregnancy need no heart medication at all. Where a true arrhythmia is confirmed, treatments such as beta-blockers can be used in pregnancy, but they are chosen, started and monitored by specialists as part of obstetric cardiology care, not started over video.[1] What an online doctor can properly do is treat reversible contributors after assessment (for example, iron deficiency confirmed on blood tests), review whether any current medicine is driving symptoms, and organise the referral. Prescribing rules vary by country, and anything that touches the heart in pregnancy is deliberately conservative.
When we assess heart problems online, and when we refer you
We assess online: palpitations without red flags; flutters and skipped beats that are frightening but benign-sounding; racing hearts with obvious fuels such as caffeine, anxiety, broken sleep or possible anaemia; questions about symptoms already assessed in person; and preparing the right questions before a cardiology appointment.
We refer or redirect you: anyone whose answers trip the emergency list, to 112 immediately, including mid-consultation; sudden-start sustained palpitations, to an ECG promptly; breathlessness lying flat, night cough or new swelling, to same-day assessment for possible cardiomyopathy; suspected pre-eclampsia symptoms, to same-day maternity assessment; and every pregnancy with known heart disease, to a joint obstetric cardiology team, ideally before conception when pregnancy is still being planned.[1] Heart symptoms sit alongside the other pregnancy conditions our doctors assess online, always with the same rule: honest routing beats false reassurance.
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: open daily 7am–11pm. Most patients speak to a doctor within about 15 minutes of their booked time. no subscription, exact price up front.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about heart problems in pregnancy: a private video call from anywhere in Europe; the consultation always starts with the emergency checklist, worked through together.
- Get your plan and safety-net advice: a prescription or referral follows when right for you, with clear safety-net advice throughout, or you get a full refund.
No sign-up needed
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Frequently asked questions about heart problems in pregnancy
Can an online doctor check my heart during pregnancy?
An online doctor can take a structured history, screen for red flags, and tell you whether you need an ECG, blood tests or specialist review, and how urgently. What no video call can do is record your heart rhythm or listen to your heart, so online assessment is about sorting and routing, honestly done.
How much does an online consultation cost?
The exact price of a video consultation is shown before payment, and there is no subscription. If the doctor can’t help you online, you get a full refund and clear directions to the right care.
How quickly can I speak to a doctor?
Appointments are available daily from 7am to 11pm, often within about 15 minutes, from anywhere in Europe. That speed is for non-emergency symptoms only: chest pain, breathlessness at rest or fainting in pregnancy should never wait for a booking. Call 112 or go to your maternity unit.
Why is my heart racing while pregnant?
Blood volume rises by up to half in pregnancy, the heart pumps more with each beat, and the resting pulse runs roughly 10 to 20 beats faster, so a noticeable, faster heartbeat is usually normal physiology. Caffeine, dehydration, anxiety, anaemia and thyroid problems can all push it further, and those are worth checking when a racing heart is persistent.
What is peripartum cardiomyopathy?
A rare weakness of the heart muscle that appears towards the end of pregnancy or in the months after birth. Warning signs are breathlessness lying flat or at night, a persistent cough, new swelling and profound exhaustion. It needs an urgent echocardiogram, because early diagnosis and treatment substantially improve recovery. If those symptoms fit, seek same-day care rather than booking anything.
I have a heart condition and want to get pregnant. What should I do?
See your cardiologist before trying to conceive. Most women with heart conditions can have safe pregnancies, but medicines often need reviewing, some conditions need treatment first, and care should be planned with a joint obstetric cardiology team from the start. An online doctor can explain what pre-conception review involves and help arrange the referral.
When should I worry about palpitations in pregnancy?
Worry, and act, when palpitations come with chest pain, breathlessness, fainting or near-fainting, when they start and stop abruptly and last minutes, when they happen during exertion, or when you have a known heart condition or a family history of sudden unexplained death. Any of those means assessment in person, urgently if you feel unwell with them.
- 2018 ESC Guidelines for the management of cardiovascular diseases during pregnancy, ESC, European Society of Cardiology, 2018.
- Palpitations, NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries, revised 2024.
- Hypertension in pregnancy: diagnosis and management (NG133), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2019 (updated 2023).
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) fact sheet, WHO, World Health Organization, 2023.
- Peripartum cardiomyopathy (ORPHA:563), Orphanet, the European rare disease portal, accessed August 2026.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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