Human chorionic gonadotropin, also referred to as hCG, can tell a lot about your pregnancy. In fact, upon your initial prenatal visit, your doctor will confirm your pregnancy by testing for the presence of hCG levels. Your doctor can perform additional testing on your hCG levels to determine whether or not your pregnancy is going well or if there are any complications.
Testing
Your doctor can execute two types of tests with your hCG levels. A qualitative hCG test will tell your doctor if hCG is found in a specimen. A quantitative test will allow your doctor to see how much hCG is actually present in the specimen. He can then use these numbers to tell whether you're pregnant with a single baby or twins and these numbers can also tell your doctor an approximate gestational age of your baby. If you're experiencing complications with your pregnancy, your doctor can use the quantitative results to tell if you've experienced a miscarriage or a blighted ovum, according to the American Pregnancy Association.
hCG Levels
Depending upon how far along you are in your pregnancy, your hCG numbers should be within a certain range. Physicians use a standard chart, or measurements, to tell whether or not your levels are within a normal range. If your numbers are not within a normal range, your doctor will perform additional testing to see why they're not within the regular limits. He may perform an ultrasound, pelvic exam or he may monitor your hCG levels periodically over the course of a specified amount of time. Typically, when you experience a miscarriage, your hCG levels will dramatically decrease.
Symptoms
All miscarriages are different so there's no set standard as to what you may experience. Common symptoms of a miscarriage include bleeding, cramping, mild or severe back pain, sudden decrease in signs of pregnancy and passing fetal tissue. You may or may not experience these depending upon how far along you are. If you're very early in your pregnancy, you may not experience any of these symptoms as you may not even know you're pregnant. Some women miscarry without even knowing they are pregnant and the miscarriage is mistaken as their menstrual cycle.
Treatment
If you were very early in pregnancy at the time of the miscarriage, your body may expel all of the fetal tissue on its own, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Your doctor may prescribe medication to help control some of the bleeding that you may experience. If you were further along in your pregnancy, your doctor may perform a dilation and curettage, or D&C. In this procedure, your doctor will use medical equipment to dilate your cervix and remove fetal tissue that your body cannot pass on its own and it also helps stop bleeding as well as reduce the risk of infection.
Considerations
While it may be impossible to stop a miscarriage from happening, you can take certain precautions to help reduce the risk of experiencing a miscarriage. A healthy diet, regular exercise and taking folic acid daily can help reduce the risk of a miscarriage. Smoking may also contribute to miscarriages; your doctor may be able to help you stop smoking before you become pregnant.
