Blood Tests
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There are many different ways in which a pregnancy can be confirmed. You may first suspect that you are pregnant when you miss a period or experience other early pregnancy symptoms. If you suspect that you are pregnant, you may take a home pregnancy test. Regardless, if you are pregnant, at some point you will usually have a blood test done to confirm the pregnancy. The blood test works in a similar fashion to a home pregnancy test but can be more accurate, which is why a physician will usually order it even if you have already received a positive result at home.
Both tests work by detecting the presence of the pregnancy hormone. This hormone is the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, also referred to as hcG. This hormone goes into production when the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. This typically occurs about a week after conception, but the actual time that it occurs can vary from one woman to another. In the early stages of pregnancy hCG levels are typically fairly low but they are capable of being detected. As the pregnancy progresses, hCG levels increase. On average, hCG levels double in quantity about every two days.
There are two types of blood tests that can be performed to confirm pregnancy. Both detect the presence of hCG levels but one measures the actual amount of hCG levels in the blood. This type of blood test can be helpful in determining how far along the pregnancy is as well as whether the pregnancy is progressing normally. In some cases, the physician may order this type of blood test to make sure that hCG levels are increasing as they should, which is one indication that the pregnancy is viable.
If hCG levels are not increasing at a steady rate this can indicate that there is a problem with the pregnancy and could be an indication that a miscarriage will occur. It can also indicate the presence of an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. This is most commonly in one of the fallopian tubes, but it can also occur elsewhere. An ectopic pregnancy is a very serious condition which can be life-threatening, particularly if the fertilized egg is in the tube and the tube bursts.
Blood tests may also be performed following a miscarriage to ensure that pregnancy hormones are tapering off as they should. It may take several days or even weeks in some cases for the pregnancy hormone to taper down to zero following a miscarriage.
Extremely high levels of the pregnancy hormone in the blood may also indicate the possibility of multiples. Often this can be one of the first tip-offs that a doctor may have that the mother may be expecting more than one baby. If the hormone levels are much higher than expected for the length of the pregnancy this can be a good indication of twins or more. In this case, the physician may order an ultrasound to confirm the number of babies.
Blood tests are may be performed in the physician's office or the physician may order the blood work to be conducted at an offsite lab. The amount of time that it takes for the results of a blood test to come back will depend upon the turnaround time offered by the office or the lab. The technician will typically only draw a small amount of blood which will be used for testing and in order to test for the presence of the pregnancy hormone.
