A fetal heartbeat can usually be heard after eight weeks of pregnancy using an ultrasound scan. If you are using a home heart monitor or if your midwife is using a Doppler, then you might sometimes have to wait until ten weeks of pregnancy. During early pregnancy, it is sometimes difficult to find a fetal heartbeat due to multiple reasons, so it is always best to wait until the pregnancy has progressed beyond ten weeks for an abdominal ultrasound.