Understanding Blood Pregnancy Test: How It Works

Introduction

A urine-based pregnancy test at home is the most common way by which most women find out their pregnancy after they have conceived. In some cases, the doctor might ask you to get a blood pregnancy test. However, there may be some cases when a blood test would be more preferable than a urine test to detect pregnancy. Here you will get to know how a pregnancy blood test is different from a pregnancy urine test, and how the blood test actually works.

Blood pregnancy test is a quantitative test measuring the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone levels in blood. For this test, a small quantity of blood sample will be collected from your veins in the arm through a process called venipuncture.

The HCG hormone is secreted only during pregnancy, and it can be detected in 1 or 2 weeks from after you conceive when it is released in a considerable amount. Once you perform a pregnancy test at home with a blood or urine sample, the results are based on this hormone level in your blood or urine.

How is blood HCG test different from urine HCG test?

As compared to a urine pregnancy test, a blood pregnancy test is usually more sensitive. Moreover, blood tests are capable of producing accurate results with only minimal amounts of the HCG hormone; which suggests they can detect your pregnancy only within few days from your day of conception. Urine test, on the other hand, needs slightly more amount of HCG to check for positive pregnancy results. Chances of false negative results with urine pregnancy tests are, therefore, more likely.

Urine HCG Test

• Checks whether you are pregnant or not
• Gives accurate results from after some days or at least a week later from your missed period
• Qualitative test, just confirming the presence of HCG hormone
• Requires considerably greater quantity of HCG for positive reading

Blood HCG Test

• Tracks HCG levels over time
• Can give accurate results even before you miss your period
• Gives qualitative and quantitative results, checks the presence of HCG and measures its level as well
• A more sensitive test, detecting pregnancy even from a little quantity of HCG

Qualitative Test

As urine tests are qualitative in nature, they simply detect the presence or absence of the HCG hormone in blood; which further corresponds a positive or a negative reading for pregnancy. It gives clear results, simply confirming whether you are pregnant or not based on the presence of HCG in your blood. In addition, you will also require undergoing a blood pregnancy test to calculate the HCG levels in pregnancy.

How fast can a blood test detect pregnancy?

Blood pregnancy tests can detect HCG levels in blood from 6 to 8 days before ovulation. On the contrary, urine pregnancy tests can check pregnancy through HCG levels from up to 10 days after conception. Doctors usually recommend waiting for at least a week after you miss your period before undertaking pregnancy blood test in London as it ensures optimal efficiency of your test results.

Quantitative Tests

Another way is to get quantitative HCG blood test which gives more in-depth information to your doctor regarding your pregnancy. This test is effective in detecting even the smallest quantity of the pregnancy hormone levels (HCG) in blood, and also measures the exact HCG levels during pregnancy. In the early stages of pregnancy, the HCG levels almost double in every 2 days.

By performing several blood tests within 48 hours, the doctor can track your HCG levels and get more accurate reading of your pregnancy. These blood tests are effective monitoring your pregnancy for risks of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and the chances of carrying multiple foetuses in the womb.

When is a blood test required?

In case of regular pregnancies in healthy women, at-home urine tests are proven to be highly effective. Blood tests help detect any potential issue or complications associated with pregnancy.

Private pregnancy blood tests are performed to check for higher risks of pregnancies during fertility treatments, when you have already missed your period but your urine tests give negative results. This either confirms or rules out the possibilities of multiple pregnancies or miscarriages, diagnosing probable ectopic or tubal pregnancy due to other due to other complications.

Urine Pregnancy Test vs. Blood Pregnancy Test

Urine tests are painless and much easier to use, which comes at a lower price in the privacy and comfort of your home. This is a standard test done for most pregnancies. On the other hand, a blood pregnancy test in London gives more accurate and instant results which gives detailed information to the doctors about pregnancy.

What happens if you have higher HCG than expected?

If your test results show higher HCG level than the normal range, it might denote the following:

• Normal pregnancy
• Non-cancerous tumours in the uterus
• Testicular cancer in men
• Ovarian cancer in women
• More than one foetus, suggesting twins or triplets
• Malignant tumours and infections in the uterus

What happens if you have lower HCG than expected?

If your test results show lower HCG level than the normal range, it might indicate the following:

• Complete or incomplete miscarriage
• Probable death of the foetus
• Ectopic pregnancy

Underlying Risks

Blood pregnancy test involves minimal risks. Other than injecting the needle causing minor discomfort, most people have not reported any other side effect from drawing blood. However, occasional bruising might occur at the site of injection in some people. Although very rare, very less people have reported fainting, excessive bleeding, or infection after their blood was drawn. You must inform the doctor if you ever face any issue while your blood is being drawn for your blood test.

Conclusion

For most women, an at-home or urine-based pregnancy test in London is more than enough to confirm the chances of pregnancy. Conducting a qualitative or quantitative blood pregnancy test at times might require more detailed information, especially for complicated cases. Both the tests have been proven to be effective to find out if you are pregnant.

If you want to get a private pregnancy blood test in London, contact our clinic Private Blood Tests London at [email protected] or call us on 02034759389.