Pregnancy week 6, your baby's first organ becomes apparent – the heart, says KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
Pregnancy week 6
your baby's first organ, the heart, becomes apparent. At this stage, your baby's limbs, neurological and digestive systems start to develop as well.
Heart
At pregnancy week 6, the first organ to become apparent for your baby is none other than the heart, which is in the shape of a loop. Even in its primitive form, it helps to circulate your baby’s blood and nutrients but it is not fully functional yet.
In a couple of weeks, you will be able to hear your baby's heart beat through an ultrasound doppler.
Neurological and digestive systems
Your baby's neurological system is developing and parts of the brain can be more easily identified. Your baby’s digestive system is also developing.
Limbs
Limb buds are appearing. Limb buds are structures formed by the developing limb. These buds that now appear as little spots will eventually grow into arms and legs.
In recent weeks, the embryo has been giving off somites or divisions, similar to the limb buds mentioned before in pregnancy week 5. These somites will become different segments of your baby’s body. They have been tasked with a specific set of responsibilities from the moment they were given off. The pattern of gene expression within these somites will also determine
what they differentiate into as well as
how fast they grow.
Until now, your baby’s development can be determined at a microscopic level by the number of somites it possesses. Exciting!
Ref: M19
