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Getting Ready for Breastfeeding Getting Ready for Baby — Baby Necessities Getting Ready for Baby — Bringing Baby Home Childbirth — Cesarean Delivery Getting Ready for Baby - Packing for the Hospital What is a Pregnancy Calculator? What is a Chinese Conception Chart? What is Implantation Bleeding? Getting Ready for Baby — Planning your Parenting Style What is an Ovulation Calculator? What is an Ovulation Predictor Kit? What Should I Expect My Second Trimester? What Should I Expect My Third Trimester? What is a High Risk Pregnancy? 10 Tips for Better Sleep During Pregnancy? What is Safe to Eat During Pregnancy? 10 Things Your Non Pregnant Girlfriends Should Know Now That You're Pregnant What Should I Expect in My First Trimester? What is a Professional Labor Assistant? What are Some Safe Medications to take During Pregnancy? Finding or Starting a Mom's Group How to Handle a Sympathetic Pregnancy Is Breastfeeding During Pregnancy Safe? Top 10 Gifts for Pregnant Women 5 Things You Should Never Say to a Pregnant Woman Differences Between an OB and a Midwife Is There a Male Biological Clock? What is Secondary Infertility? Coping with Depression during Pregnancy Coping with Postpartum Depression What Affects How Long You Stay in the Hospital after Delivery? What is Artificial Insemination (IUI)? Unwanted Hair Growth During Pregnancy What is Hyperpigmentation During Pregnancy? |
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What are hCG Levels? Written by: Olivia Wallace |
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The Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) hormone is necessary for supporting pregnancy, particularly just after conception and in the first trimester. Once an egg has been fertilized, the embryo and the cells that will eventually become the placenta produce hCG. These hCG levels signal the ovaries to continue making the hormone progesterone, which maintains the rich lining of the uterus. This also keeps the body from continuing the menstruation cycle, and sloughing off this lining. Although hCG levels are very important in determining if a woman is or isn’t pregnant, if the pregnancy is progressing correctly, or if she is miscarrying, remember that there is a lot of variance in a woman’s individual hCG levels. Rising hCG levels typically indicate a pregnancy, and falling levels typically indicate a failing one — however, hCG levels one way or the other are no guarantee either way. HCG can be detected in the blood around 11 days after fertilization — and after 12-14 days in the urine. This is when home pregnancy tests typically detect hCG levels in the urine. For about 85% of women, hCG levels double every two to three days, rising exponentially. At about 11 weeks gestation, hCG levels peak, then fall a bit and remain constant. Although there is quite a bit of variance in different women, if you have less than 5mlU/ml of hCG in your blood, you will have a negative pregnancy result, but if you have more than 25mlU/ml, you are pregnant. Doctors have two blood tests that they utilize to determine hCG levels: a qualitative test will simply test if hCG is present, while a quantitative test will measure how much is in the blood. If you are trying to determine if you are pregnant, or the status of your pregnancy, your doctor will test your blood, and then test you again 48-72 hours later to get an idea of if your hCG levels are rising, and how fast. Typically, if your levels are dropping, it means that you are miscarrying or that miscarriage is imminent. Although it is good to see rising levels, a slow increase doesn’t mean that the pregnancy isn’t viable. Low hCG levels can mean that you or your doctor got your dates wrong and your pregnancy is earlier than originally thought. It can also mean that you have a blighted ovum, which is a fertilized egg that ceased development. Ectopic pregnancies can also result in low hCG levels. If you have high hCG levels, you may be further along in your pregnancy than you and your doctor thought, or may be pregnant with — surprise — multiples! Typically, if you have rising hCG levels, this is a good sign that your body is producing the hormones it needs to support your pregnancy. One interesting school of thought about hCG is that it provides a protection to the growing fetus from the mother’s immune system, which may recognize a new embryo as a foreign intruder and attack it. Regardless of if this is true or not, hCG is just another amazing element of what is truly a miraculous process. The following is a general guideline for hCG levels — all women will experience a variance in levels. After 12 weeks, levels fall, then remain fairly constant.
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