HCG Blood Pregnancy Test: Importance And How Does It Work I BabyChakra

Sudeshna Chakravarti

Author | 799 Articles

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a hormone primarily produced by the placenta during pregnancy. It helps thicken your uterine lining to support the growing embryo and indicates your body to pause menstruation. The HCG blood pregnancy test can help detect whether you have conceived up to a week before your missed period.

Read on as we fill you in on more details about the HCG blood test, when to take it, and its accuracy.

What Is An HCG Blood Pregnancy Test?

The HCG blood pregnancy test helps confirm whether you have conceived by detecting the presence of HCG hormones in your blood. You can undergo this test only at a clinic. There are two types of HCG blood pregnancy tests that you might have to take.

Qualitative HCG test: This checks for the presence of the hormone in your blood and gives either a positive or negative result.
Quantitative HCG test: The test helps detect the presence of HCG in your blood, and also helps determine the age of the fetus and pregnancy complications. The quantitative test is also referred to by other names, such as the beta HCG blood test, repeat quantitative beta-HCG test, and quantitative blood pregnancy test.

How Soon Can The HCG Blood Test Detect Pregnancy?

An HCG blood test might detect your pregnancy as early as 6-8 days after embryo implantation. This means that it can confirm your pregnancy at least 7-10 days before your expected period date.

How Accurate Is The HCG Blood Pregnancy Test?

According to experts, HCG blood pregnancy test results are 99% accurate. However, in rare cases, they may also give false-positive or false-negative results. Moreover, HCG blood tests are considered more reliable than urine tests as blood tests can even confirm very low levels of the hormone, and hence detect pregnancy much earlier.

However, there are certain factors that could affect your HCG blood pregnancy test results. These include:

Presence of certain tumours in your body or molar pregnancy
Medications, especially fertility injections, and drugs
Recent pregnancy loss
Multiple pregnancies

Why Do You Need An HCG Blood Pregnancy Test?

The HCG blood pregnancy test is recommended for the following reasons:

To detect pregnancy
To diagnose pregnancy complications like ectopic pregnancy or molar pregnancy
To determine the age of the fetus
To screen for Down syndrome
To detect a possible miscarriage

How Is The HCG Blood Pregnancy Test Performed?

The test is similar to any other typical blood test. It requires a small amount of blood drawn from the vein in your arm. You do not need any special preparations for this test. It is also a non-fasting test, which means you can have regular meals before giving your blood.

However, if you are taking any medications, nutritional supplements, or homeopathic medicines, you should inform your doctor before the test, as these factors could affect your results.

How To Read HCG Blood Pregnancy Test Results?

The qualitative HCG blood pregnancy test results are pretty easy to understand.

A positive test result indicates that you have recently conceived.
A negative test result indicates that you are not pregnant, or you have taken the test too early.

In the case of a quantitative HCG blood pregnancy test, the result is given as a number. This number indicates the concentration of HCG hormones in your blood.

Keep in mind that the levels of this hormone rapidly rise during the first trimester, and then decline and become steady for the rest of your pregnancy. Due to this, you may notice a variation in the levels of the HCG hormone, depending on your gestational age. Don’t worry, as your doctor will explain what the specific levels mean in your pregnancy.

HCG Blood Pregnancy Test Results: False Positives And False Negatives

It is possible for you to receive false results from an HCG test, just like urine or home pregnancy tests.

False-positive pregnancy test result: In this case, the test will show a positive result even though you are not pregnant. You may receive false-positive test results if you are on medications containing HCG, such as those used during fertility treatments.
False-negative pregnancy test result: In this case, your test results may come negative, but you are actually pregnant. This could occur if you have taken the test too early before any HCG is produced in your blood. Certain medications may also give you a false-negative test result.

Conclusion

The HCG blood pregnancy test is recommended as it helps confirm whether you have conceived or not a week before your missed period. The qualitative HCG test helps confirm your pregnancy by detecting the hormone levels in your blood, and the quantitative test helps assess your gestational age and risks of pregnancy complications.

Since the HCG test results can get affected due to certain medications and injections, make sure to inform your doctor before taking the test to increase the accuracy of the results and prevent the risk of false-positive or false-negative outcomes.