Pregnancy Blood Tests & Pregnancy Urine Tests
A pregnancy test looks to detect a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin or hCG. When a fertilized egg implants in the uterine wall, it starts to secrete a pregnancy hormone hCG.
There are two main types of pregnancy tests to confirm whether or not you are pregnant: a blood pregnancy test or a urine pregnancy test.
Blood Pregnancy Tests
Blood tests can pick up hCG earlier in a pregnancy than urine tests can. Blood tests can tell if you are pregnant about six to eight days after you ovulate (or release an egg from an ovary).
There are two types of hCG blood tests:
The qualitative hCG blood test can detect HCG in the blood and give a "yes, you are pregnant" or "no, you are not" answer.
The quantitative pregnancy blood test, also called the Beta hCG blood test, measures the amount of hCG in the blood. It can detect even low levels of hCG, possibly giving a positive sooner.
Urine Pregnancy Tests
Urine pregnancy tests can detect hCG in a urine sample. Urine pregnancy tests usually come in the form of home pregnancy test kits.
Some tests are very sensitive and will detect even very low levels of HCG (12.5 mIU) in your urine. If you have recently had a miscarriage or recently given birth, you may be prone to false positives. In this case, the best pregnancy test would be one that will only detect a high level of hCG (100 mIU).
Symptoms of Pregnancy
You may suspect that you are pregnant because you have certain symptoms, such as
- Food cravings
- Darkening of your areolas (skin around the nipples)
- Implantation bleeding or cramping
- Frequent urination
- Fatigue
- Tender, swollen breasts
- Altered sense of taste
- Morning sickness
- A missed period
Not all women have these symptoms.
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