Tests To Confirm Your Pregnancy

A pregnancy test can quickly tell you whether you’ve conceived or not! Here are the answers to some of the most often asked questions. Also, we’ve brought you several ways to check if you are pregnant. So, here are some pregnancy confirmation tests you should know about.

What Is A Pregnancy Test And How Does It Work?

When you opt for the pregnancy test, it generally looks for a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin in your urine or blood (hCG). After a fertilised egg adheres to the uterine wall, your body produces this hormone, and your pregnancy test gets confirmed.

Types Of Available Pregnancy Tests:

You can go through some pregnancy tests to confirm if everything falls into place.

1. Home-Pregnancy Test

Home pregnancy test kits are commonly available in the market. It tests for the presence of the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your urine. This hormone appears in your urine when a fertilized egg is implanted in your uterus, indicating that you are pregnant. The hCG level increases very quickly with each day that you are pregnant.

Home-pregnancy tests are about 97 % accurate, and they work only after the date that your period is due because this is about the time that implantation occurs. It takes longer for some women than for the test to come up positive. So, if you are feeling the signs of pregnancy and your home-pregnancy test turns out negative, wait for a few days and retake the test. Also, remember to follow the instructions on the pack carefully to ensure that you do not contaminate the urine in any way and affect the test results.

If the test again turns out negative, but your period has still not arrived, do consult your doctor. She will conduct further tests to confirm whether you are pregnant.

2. Doctor’s Tests

The doctor tests the hCG levels by either testing your urine or blood.

Urine tests measure the same as the home pregnancy test, but since it is tested in a controlled lab environment, it is less prone to errors than an improperly done home-pregnancy test.

Blood tests for pregnancy are used less often and are done at the lab.

• Qualitative Blood Tests – Detects the presence of hCG hormone in your blood and tells you whether you are pregnant or not.

• Quantitative Blood Tests – Measures the amount of hCG in your blood, which also tells you how far along you are in your pregnancy.

The advantages of blood tests are:

• They can detect the presence of hCG earlier than urine tests.

• They can detect the hCG concentration in the blood, which is useful when a woman is being monitored for possible pregnancy complications.

The disadvantages are:

• You don’t get the results immediately but will have to wait for a couple of days.

• It is more expensive.

Pelvic exams: A doctor can confirm pregnancy by a pelvic examination. She checks if there is softening of the uterine walls, and looks for a blue colouration of the cervix, both of which are indicators of pregnancy. She can further check the health of the uterus, tubes and ovaries and gauge how far along you are by testing for uterine enlargement.

Ultrasound: An ultrasound is a medical imaging technique that sends high-frequency sound pulses into your body through a probe. When the pulses meet tissues, they are reflected or echoed back, and these echoes are measured and displayed on the screen as a two-dimensional image. This technique can show you the growing embryo, and it also helps the doctor know if the embryo is growing well and implanted in the uterus. This is advantageous to detect pregnancy complications like ectopic pregnancies.

3. New Tests:

There are some new home pregnancy tests available in the market today–they measure the levels of hCG and how much of it is present in the urine and tell you how many weeks pregnant you are. These test kits might not be widely available yet.

How Accurate Are Pregnancy Tests?

Pregnancy tests done at the medical stores are 99 percent accurate, and they’re equally as reliable as a urine pregnancy test from a doctor’s office. Pregnancy tests check for a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin in your urine (HCG). And your body produces this hormone means you’re pregnant.

When to Take A Pregnancy Test?

You should wait until the week after you miss your period for the best accurate result. If you don’t want to wait until your period has skipped, wait for at least 1-2 weeks after you’ve had intercourse. If you’re pregnant, it takes time for your body to produce measurable quantities of HCG.

What Do The Pregnancy Test Results Mean?

When you see 1 line in the pregnancy test calculator, that means- negative (you are not pregnant), while 2 lines indicate that the test is a positive pregnancy test (you are pregnant).

So there you go – so many ways to confirm your pregnancy. Go ahead and enjoy the thrill that comes with it!

Related Articles:

Missed Periods With Negative Pregnancy Test: Here are a few of the reasons why periods are late, even if you’re not pregnant. Check out them here!

Blood Test During Pregnancy: Here we got you answered with some blood testsu can opt for during pregnancy. Must check out!

The Triple Test A Must For Every Pregnancy: What is a triple test? And why is it a must for you during pregnancy? Read on to find out!

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