Blood Pregnancy Test

This is the standard pregnancy test conducted by most of women. The blood of the user is tested and based upon the properties of blood components, the pregnancy is inferred.

Pregnancy is inferred from the blood by the existence of two hormones, oestrogen and progesterone in the blood. These hormones are produced by the signaling of the hCG to the ovaries. hCG is known as chorionic gonadotropin. This hormone is present in women only at the time of pregnancy. This hormone is produced by the uterus. The two hormones oestrogen and progesterone help the child grow in the mothers womb and is present in the blood and urine sample of the women.

Types of Blood Pregnancy Tests

The blood pregnancy test is determined by calculating the amount of hCG level in the blood.The two types of blood tests are qualitative blood pregnancy test and quantitative blood pregnancy test.

Quantitative Blood Pregnancy Test

Qualitative blood pregnancy test mainly gives a yes or no result about pregnancy. It will not tell how long the women is pregnant. This is inferred only by testing the presence of hCG in the bloodstream.

Quantitative Blood Pregnancy Test

In the quantitative blood pregnancy test, the amount of hCG level in the blood is found in order to infer a pregnancy. Usually the quantitative blood test could be conducted before 7 days of the missed period. Thus this test detects even the small amount of hCG level in the blood. As the days goes on, the hCG level increases in the blood of a pregnant women. The blood pregnancy test can infer the results with 99% accuracy. This is less accurate compared to the urine tests.

Restrictions of Blood Pregnancy Test

The blood pregnancy test will show false results if the women has consumed any drugs containing hCG in it. Thus, this should be consulted with the doctor before conducting the blood pregnancy test. Drugs with hCG might be used in fertility treatment. Another one disadvantage of blood pregnancy test is that the women cannot do the test themselves. They have to consult a doctor and go to the hospital to do the test. Since the blod stream is tested, there are chances of shadowing the hCG levels in the blood due to the presence of some other disease or hormones.

Some of the advantages of blood pregnancy tests is that it is cheap and common to all. We can also infer other health status by doing the blood tests.