A fetal heart finding is the start of a pathway, not a verdict.
About 1 in 100 pregnancies involves a congenital heart difference. Most findings at the 20-week scan need a closer look, not a conclusion. This site walks the whole route with you: what happens at each stage, who you will meet, and what to ask.
Our rule: every medical statement cites its source - ISUOG practice guidelines, peer-reviewed studies, or public registry data, with identifiers you can check. We do not diagnose, rank hospitals, or advise pregnancy decisions. About this domain's past
THE SCREENING WINDOW
Where are you right now?
This site is organized by where you are, not by disease name. Pick the door that matches your week.
The Waiting Days
You can see a word like "VSD 1.6mm" in a portal, but no one has explained it yet. What to do tonight, what to stop reading, and what actually happens next.
Read the waiting guide Diagnosis made · planning aheadDiagnosed, now what
The echo is done, a name has been given. Counseling, second opinions, and the questions parents most wish they had asked.
Go to counseling stage One word · right now · at 2amDecode a word
VSD, EIF, HLHS, "suboptimal views" - every report term in plain language, with an honest "is this usually serious?" note on each.
Open the glossaryWhat happens now - and when?
Five stages, from the routine scan to delivery. Each page answers the same three questions: what happens, who you meet, what to ask.
Screening
wk 18-22The routine anatomy scan looks at four heart views. Most "suspicious" findings here are referrals, not diagnoses.
02Fetal Echo
within 1-2 wksA focused scan of the fetal heart by a specialist. This is the exam that gives real answers.
03Your Report
same dayHow to read the words in the report - what each term means, and what it does not mean.
04Counseling
ongoingPrognosis in ranges, options, testing, and how decisions are actually made with you.
05Delivery
wk 34-40Where and how to deliver so the right neonatal team is in the room, plus the first days after.
What will actually help us?
Three findings from parent research shaped every page of this site.
The understanding gap is real
In a 2025 paired-survey study, parents and cardiologists agreed well on the diagnosis name - but on mortality risk and neurodevelopmental outcomes, their understanding barely overlapped (GAC -0.04 and 0.05). Parents leave with the name, not the prognosis. J Perinatol 2025
70% go searching alone
After counseling, 70% of parents searched for more information - 86% of them on medical websites, 61% on social media. The demand exists; nearly all supply is written for clinicians. We write for the searcher. same study
Two kinds of searcher
Families with lower-risk findings searched for hope and peer stories; families with higher-risk findings often chose not to search at all. So our pages lead with a calm summary and let detail stay folded. You choose your depth. Cardiology in the Young 2022
Where should I read next?
Prognosis, honestly
Survival, neurodevelopment, and quality-of-life data in published ranges - the conversation research shows parents aren't getting.
Report terms, translated
Every word that might appear on a fetal cardiology report, with an honest "usually serious?" note on each.
Updates, dated & checked
When guidance changes or significant studies publish - each entry carries the date we checked its sources.
This domain's past
What prenatalcardiology.org hosted before (2017-2023), and who we are now - same subject, new stewardship.