A pregnancy test can help you know whether you are pregnant by testing a sample of your urine or blood for specific hormones. The hormone is known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). hCG levels increase quickly in the first ten weeks after a fertilized egg attaches itself to the walls of the uterus.
We are doing pregnancy tests as a part of our routine lab tests at our Dearborn Center.
What Is A Pregnancy Test?
There are two different types of pregnancy tests performed in a lab.
1.Urine tests for pregnancy, Dearborn
These tests are performed on a urine sample. As hormones take time to rise in the blood and then excrete in the urine, urine pregnancy tests are more accurate if performed a week or two after you have missed your menstrual period. If a urine test is performed too close to the time you got pregnant, the test could be falsely negative. It means that the test could wrongly say that you are not pregnant, even though you are. This is because your body has not produced enough hCG to show a positive urine pregnancy test.
Besides having a urine test at the lab, another option is to do it yourself with a home test kit. Sometimes home tests are not performed properly, so you may have confusion reading the results.
However, when instructions are followed properly, home pregnancy tests are about 97-99% accurate and give you immediate results within minutes.
2.Blood tests for pregnancy, Dearborn
These can only be done at your doctor’s office or a lab. The blood test for pregnancy is more accurate, as it can pick up a very small amount of hCG.
Also, they are sensitive enough to pick up hCG even before you have missed your period.
But in routine practice, blood tests for pregnancy are not performed very often.
The reason behind this is that urine tests are less expensive and provide quick results, while blood tests may take hours or a day to declare their results.
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When Do You Need A Pregnancy Test In Dearborn?
The symptoms of pregnancy vary from person to person.
You may need this test when you think that you are pregnant or have missed a period and have the following symptoms.
- ○ Morning sickness (nausea and vomiting)
- ○ Fatigue
- ○ Breast tenderness or swelling
- ○ The frequent need to pass urine
- ○ Feeling bloated in the abdomen
If you are taking medication for any underlying medical ailment that could harm an unborn baby.
You may also need a pregnancy test to make sure that you are not pregnant.
Prerequisites For A Pregnancy Test At The Dearborn Center
There is no special preparation for the urine pregnancy tests. However, the best time to collect a urine sample for testing is early in the morning. As it has concentrated levels of the hormone hCG that are easy to be detected to give a positive result. Don’t drink too much fluid before giving a urine sample, as it can dilute the amount of hormone in the urine and give a false negative result.
After getting a positive pregnancy test, book an appointment with your healthcare provider to learn about the dos and don’ts of pregnancy to ensure the safety of you and your unborn baby.