Pregnancy Tests

Pregnancy tests are done to confirm pregnancy usually after one misses her monthly period. It is based on detection of the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone which is present in either blood or urine of the would-be mom upto certain level if pregnancy has taken place. HCG is a very special hormone as each lady would certainly want to know about it. This hormone is secreted by the growing fetus inside the mother’s body. This hormone reaches blood of mother approximately after one week of fertilization. Pregnancy can be detected as early as one or two days after the absence of the period which depends upon the type of pregnancy test which is used for the purpose.

So, we can classify the pregnancy tests in two main categories which are:

Urine pregnancy test and blood or serum pregnancy test.

Most of the urine pregnancy tests are less costly than the serum pregnancy test.

The level of HCG more than 25-50 milliliter-international units per milliliter (mIU/mL) can be detected by urine pregnancy test.

The level of HCG more than 5-10 mIU/mL can be detected by serum pregnancy tests.

As seen from the above statements, the serum pregnancy test can detect pregnancy at very early stage than the urine pregnancy test although mostly urine pregnancy tests are used in India for the confirmation of pregnancies.

The urine pregnancy test can be also done at home with the help of several types of kits available in the market. These tests are very easy and can be performed by anyone. It ensures one of her privacy. But some of the points which should be taken care at the time of pregnancy tests are that the urine should be preferably the first urine of morning and should be collected in clean bottle. As the time passes away, the level of HCG in blood would go up and up in pregnancy and so after one week or two weeks it is easy to detect pregnancy through urine test.

We can also classify pregnancy tests as:

Qualitative pregnancy test: In this test the presence of HCG hormone is detected

Quantitative pregnancy test: In this test the amount of HCG hormone is measured.

Whatever type of pregnancy test one is going to use to confirm the pregnancy, it is always better to consult a gynecologist for the same as each of the tests has some sort of limitations which is better interpreted by a gynecologist for the diagnosis purpose. The negative result of the test does not mean absence of pregnancy all the time, may be, a retest confirms the pregnancy. Also, the positive result of the pregnancy test may be associated with some abnormal conditions not real pregnancy so a second confirmatory test is always advisable to ensure the real pregnancy. In any case, a gynecologist must be consulted to avoid any complications due to wrong judgment of the pregnancy test which may happen.

Pregnancy Kit