The invention relates to a blood pump (3) for supporting the heart, having a rotor with delivery elements, and having a rotor drive, a pressure sensor (8), and a regulating device (10) which, by means of an actuation of the rotor drive, regulates a pressure or a haemodynamic parameter, wherein in particular the pressure and/or the haemodynamic parameter are determined by means of one or more haemodynamic sensors and/or from operating parameters of the pump (3). The regulating device is suitable for regulating a haemodynamic parameter successively, in particular periodically, to different target values. By means of such regulation, the blood pump can be operated in an optimized manner, and the operation of the blood pump can be deliberately varied to meet patient requirements in order to achieve specific purposes.
