When do I need to do a pregnancy test?

Pregnancy is almost a magical condition that requires maximum attention and responsibility from women. It is better if it is diagnosed as soon as possible. Exactly say whether a woman is pregnant or not, only an expert can, and the occasion for treatment can be two cherished strips on the test. When do I need to do a pregnancy test?

To understand this, you need to know what a test is. In the simplest version is a paper strip impregnated in a specific place with a special substance that changes color when it reacts with the hormone of the chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). It appears in the blood of every pregnant woman.

This hormone necessarily begins to be produced when the egg is attached to the uterus. Theoretically, it is possible to determine pregnancy at this point, in practice, the concentration of HCG in the blood at this time is minimal, and will reach the required value only after a few days.

Experts do not advise to do a pregnancy test before the delay of menstruation, too little chance of a positive result, even with pregnancy. However, much depends on the sensitivity of the test. The sensitivity can be from 10 to 25 mM / ml. Have you chosen your pregnancy test? How many days can you hope for a truthful result? With maximum sensitivity already on the 4th day from attachment of the embryo.

Usually this happens on the 7-10th day. If the attachment occurs on day 7, the required concentration of HCG is reached by 10-11 days. That is, purely theoretically, on day 11, the test may already have shown a positive result. But the probability of this is quite small.

After all, it may very well be that the attachment will take place only on the 10th day, which means that the amount of HCG may not be enough. In this case, a reliable result can be obtained no earlier than 14 days after conception. In fact, this corresponds to the day when a woman should start menstruating.

So when do you need to do a pregnancy test? From the above, we can conclude that to do the test, without waiting for a delay, there is no sense, the risk is high to get a negative result, and be upset ahead of time.

But all these calculations are valid only for the test with high sensitivity. In the case of a less sensitive test, it is necessary to wait another week. Only then will the results be as reliable as possible. This is exactly how specialists respond to women's questions when they need to do a pregnancy test.

Rely on the test is not worth it. To be sure, it's better to make a few. And with the results you need to go to the doctor, and make a blood test for HCG. In any case, with a long delay in menstruation without resorting to a specialist, you will not be able to manage, even in the case of a negative test. First, each organism is individual, and for a number of reasons the amount of the hormone in the blood and urine can seriously differ. In this case, the express test will give a negative result, even if the woman is pregnant. In addition, the test can be defective, this is rarely, but it happens. Secondly, even if pregnancy really does not exist, it is necessary to determine the reason for the delay. This may be associated with banal stress, and may indicate disease. It is necessary to start treating them as early as possible, since otherwise the consequences can be irreversible.

By the way, if a woman's period started at the right time, but there are other symptoms that may indicate pregnancy, the test still makes sense, in some cases menstruation in pregnant women continues for several more months.

I want to believe that this article gave a detailed answer to the question "When should I do a pregnancy test?" Still, early diagnosis of pregnancy is a guarantee of the health of a woman and a child.