During prenatal check ups throughout a pregnancy, a woman will undergo numerous tests to promote a healthy pregnancy and delivery. These tests are helpful in reducing or identifying the risks of complications, like urinary tract infections,...
During pregnancy, you will undergo many different exams and tests to monitor the health of you and your baby. It is important to remain compliant with prenatal care. Your obstetrician will discuss your routine blood tests at your first prenatal...
While there are several different types of pregnancy tests available to diagnose pregnancy, all have one thing in common. All pregnancy tests look for the presence of a pregnancy hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. This hormone...
When a woman thinks she is pregnant, she wants the most accurate and most reliable pregnancy test on the market. With so many pregnancy tests to choose from, it's difficult to know which ones are the most reliable. The following are three of the...
Home pregnancy tests work by measuring the level of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in a woman's urine and are an effective way at determining if a woman is pregnant. However, with the number of different brands of...
Urine is the most common sample received by clinical laboratories, and is the specimen of choice to diagnose a variety of conditions, including urinary tract infections, bladder stones, kidney failure, prostatitis, and ovarian and prostate...
Soon after conception, a woman's body begins to produce the hormone HCG or human chorionic gonadotropin. A positive pregnancy test indicates that this hormone has been detected. While urine pregnancy tests look only for the presence or absence of...
According to Brown University, most home pregnancy tests are between 99 and 100 percent accurate when used and read correctly. The first step toward reading home pregnancy test results correctly is performing the test according to the directions...
All home pregnancy tests work by detecting if the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is present in a woman's urine. However, different types of pregnancy tests display the test result in different ways. Some home pregnancy...
Preparing for the arrival of your first child is intense and often daunting. It is undoubtedly the hardest pregnancy as you are moving into uncharted territory. You should expect to see vast changes in your body, or your partner's body. You should...
Both urine and blood pregnancy tests work by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCGm, levels. Blood tests can detect hCG earlier in pregnancy than urine tests. Blood tests can typically do this around the time of implantation, seven to...
Medical advances in technology continue to make monitoring fetal development easier, as well as help detect health problems early in the pregnancy to protect both the mother and the baby. One of the most common devices used for this purpose is the...
Approximately one percent of the population carries the recessive gene mutation that causes Ataxia-Telangiectasia. Because of the rarity of the disease, which occurs in less than 100,000 individuals worldwide, there are no current screening...
Many early pregnancy symptoms are noticeable even before a pregnancy test is able to confirm the pregnancy. Although pregnancy symptoms vary depending upon the individual, some early signs of pregnancy are experienced more commonly than others....
Pregnancy is traditionally divided into three trimesters lasting approximately three months each. Since the average pregnancy actually lasts 40 weeks, not nine months, this can sometimes be confusing, according to Penn Medicine. Different doctors...
If a urine pregnancy test showed a positive result and later, a blood pregnancy test gave a negative result, there are several possible explanations. First, and most likely, the woman was pregnant and the pregnancy ended in early miscarriage. It...
Pregnancy is an exciting phase in a woman’s life. While some of you may experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, mood swings and weight gain during pregnancy, which may undermine your excitement, what matters at the end of the...
Taking a home pregnancy test can be exciting---and nerve wracking. One of the most common and widely available brands for home pregnancy tests is Fact Plus. However, some may wonder how accurate the results are when using a Fact Plus home...
Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is called the pregnancy hormone, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Only women who are expecting can produce hCG. Your obstetrician can determine whether or not you're expecting by testing to see...
The only way to positively confirm a pregnancy is by visiting your physician and undergoing the appropriate tests, but there are some early signs of pregnancy that may appear as early as one to two weeks after conception. Once the sperm and egg...
In the first few days or weeks after conception, before most tests can detect the hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy, your body may exhibit certain pregnancy-related symptoms. Not all women have symptoms, and the majority of women only...
There is an approximate two-week period between conception and testing positive on a pregnancy test. The wait may be difficult for hopeful parents to be. Some symptoms may appear in the first weeks of pregnancy. If you begin to experience symptoms...
Pregnancy is an exciting time for new parents-to-be. A pregnant woman may begin to feel symptoms as early as one week before her period. Symptoms can vary between women, and may be different with each pregnancy. They will also differ with each...
Tubal ligation is a permanent procedure in which a woman's fallopian tubes are tied, cut, clipped or cauterized in order to prevent pregnancy. However, according to the website BabyCenter, about 1 out of 400 women will get pregnant during the...
One of the most common questions that arises among women who are trying to get---or are concerned about being---pregnant is when to take a pregnancy test. Home pregnancy tests, which involve detecting the presence of the hormone human chorionic...
One of the biggest decisions facing parents-to-be is whether or not they will find out the sex of their baby. While many parents still wait until the baby's birth, you can now get an accurate prediction of the baby's sex through prenatal testing....
Monitoring fetal growth helps check your baby's growth, activity level and health. It can help detect any fetal problems, and reassure you and your health care provider that your baby is doing well. One type of common test done during the last...
Pregnancy is an exciting time for new moms-to-be. You may begin to experience some physical symptoms prior to or around the time of your missed period. All women experience different symptoms, and your symptoms may differ from previous...
Over-the-counter pregnancy tests are used to detect pregnancy. These tests work by detecting a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the urine. When a woman becomes pregnant and the embryo implants into the uterus, hCG is secreted....
