Urine hCG Level Test: Purpose, Procedure, and Risks

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A human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) urine test is a pregnancy test. A pregnant person&#;s placenta produces hCG, known as the pregnancy hormone.

During the first 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy, hCG levels normally increase very rapidly. These levels reach their peak at about the 10th week of pregnancy, and then they gradually decline until delivery.

This type of urine test is commonly sold in kits that you can use at home. It&#;s often referred to as a home pregnancy test.

If you&#;re pregnant, the test may detect hCG in your urine about a day after your first missed period.

What are the uses of the hCG urine test?

The hCG urine test is a qualitative test, which means that it will tell you whether or not it detects the hCG hormone in your urine. It&#;s not intended to reveal specific levels of the hormone.

The presence of hCG in your urine is considered a positive sign of pregnancy.

Are there risks involved with this test?

The only risks associated with an hCG urine test involve getting a false-positive or false-negative result. A false-positive result indicates a pregnancy even though there isn&#;t one.

Rarely, the test may detect abnormal, non-pregnancy tissue, which requires follow-up by a doctor. These results are rare because usually only pregnant women produce the hCG hormone.

There&#;s a higher risk of getting a false-negative result. If you get a false-negative result, in which case the test says you aren&#;t pregnant but you really are, you might not take the precautions necessary to give your unborn baby the best possible start.

Such results may occur more commonly in early pregnancy or if the urine is too diluted to detect hCG.

How do I prepare for the hCG urine test?

There are no special preparations necessary to take an hCG urine test. You can ensure the most accurate results with simple planning.

If you&#;re taking a home pregnancy test, do the following:

• Carefully read the instructions included in your test kit before collecting your urine sample.
• Make sure the test&#;s expiration date hasn&#;t passed.
• Look for the manufacturer&#;s toll-free number on the package, and call it if you have any questions about using the test.
• Use your first morning urine after your first missed period.
• Don&#;t drink large amounts of fluid before collecting your urine sample because this may dilute hCG levels and make them difficult to recognize.

Discuss any medications you&#;re taking with your pharmacist or doctor to see if they could affect the results of an hCG urine test.

Purchase a home pregnancy test online.

How is the hCG urine test performed?

You can take an hCG urine test at your doctor&#;s office or at home with a home pregnancy test.

Both will require the collection of a urine sample. An hCG urine test conducted at home is similar to the test that your doctor conducts. Both have the same ability to detect hCG in your urine.

Most hCG urine tests sold for home testing follow a similar procedure for accurate testing. While you should carefully follow the instructions included with your kit, the process typically goes like this:

Wait 1 to 2 weeks after your first missed period. We know it&#;s hard to be patient! But if you can hold out, you&#;ll get the most accurate results. Irregular periods or miscalculations of when a period is due can affect your test.

In fact, 10 to 20 percent of pregnant women may not detect their pregnancy by testing on what they believe to be the first day of their first missed period, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If you can be patient&#; best to wait a few days!

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Plan to use the test the first time you urinate after waking up. This urine is the most concentrated and will contain the highest hCG levels of the day. Your urine dilutes as you drink liquids, so hCG levels may be harder to measure later in the day.

For some home pregnancy tests, you&#;ll hold an indicator stick directly in your urine stream until it&#;s soaked, which should take about 5 seconds. Other kits require that you collect urine in a cup and then dip the indicator stick into the cup to measure the hCG hormone level.

Home pregnancy tests usually include an indicator that shows whether the test is being properly performed. For example, it will show if there&#;s enough urine on the stick to get an accurate result. If the control indicator doesn&#;t activate during your test, the results may be inaccurate.

For most tests, it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes for a result to appear. Typically, a colored line or plus symbol will appear on the test stick to indicate a positive result. The absence of a colored line or a negative sign usually indicates a negative result.

What do the results of the hCG urine test mean?

The accuracy of your hCG urine test results will depend on your ability to closely follow the test kit&#;s instructions. If you have a negative result, you should consider these results to be uncertain, as they may indicate a false negative.

Until you can be sure that you&#;re not pregnant, you should be cautious and avoid doing anything that could hurt a developing fetus. Smoking, using alcohol, and taking certain medications can harm your baby in early pregnancy.

A false-negative result can happen after any of the following:

• using a urine sample collected after your first morning urine
• taking the test before there&#;s enough hCG to produce a positive result
• miscalculating the timing of your missed period

If you have a negative result, repeat the test in about a week to confirm the absence of pregnancy.

The company is the world’s best HCG Pregnancy Test Supplier supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

If you believe the tests are indicating a false negative and that you&#;re pregnant, you should consult your doctor. They can conduct an hCG blood test, which is more sensitive to lower levels of the hCG hormone than the hCG urine test.

If you have a positive result, it means that the test detected hCG in your urine. Your next step should be to consult your doctor. They can confirm pregnancy with an exam and additional testing, if necessary.

Getting prenatal care early in your pregnancy gives your baby the best chance for healthy growth and development before and after birth.

Home pregnancy tests: Can you trust the results?

Could you be pregnant? Get answers to common questions about home pregnancy tests.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Taking a home pregnancy test can be exciting, but it also may be stressful. That's especially true if you're not sure whether you should trust the results. Know when and how to take a home pregnancy test. And learn some of the possible drawbacks of home testing.

When should I take a home pregnancy test?

Many home pregnancy tests claim to be able to tell whether you're pregnant as early as the first day of a missed period. Some claim you can take them even before that point. But home pregnancy test results are more likely to be accurate if they are taken after the first day of a missed period. That's because shortly after a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining &#; a process called implantation &#; the placenta begins forming. The placenta makes the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). HCG can be found in blood and urine. HCG is present in the body only during pregnancy.

A home pregnancy test checks to see if there's HCG in the urine. During early pregnancy, the amount of HCG in blood and urine rises quickly &#; doubling every 2 to 3 days. That means if you wait a day or two after your missed period to take the test, and you are pregnant, it's more likely the test will find HCG and show a positive result.

The timing of ovulation makes a difference in the accuracy of a home pregnancy test. And ovulation can change from month to month. A fertilized egg also can implant in the uterus at different times. That can affect the timing of when HCG starts to be made and when it can be found with a home pregnancy test. Irregular menstrual cycles also can affect pregnancy test results, as they make it hard to figure out when a period should start.

How do I use a home pregnancy test?

For most home pregnancy tests, you put the end of the test in your urine stream, dip the test in a container of urine or put several drops of urine onto the test. A few minutes later, the result appears. It's often a plus or a minus sign, the words "yes" or "no," one line or two lines, or the words "pregnant" or "not pregnant."

Make sure to follow the test directions for how long to wait before checking the results. It's usually two minutes or more. Most tests also have a control indicator. That's usually a line or another symbol that you can see in the result window. If you don't see that line or symbol, then the test isn't working. Try again with another test.

Some home pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others. More-sensitive tests need less HCG in urine to show a positive result. If you're not sure which type of test to use, ask a pharmacist.

Always check the test's expiration date. If it's past that date, don't use it. Read and follow the test directions carefully.

How accurate are home pregnancy tests?

Many home pregnancy tests claim to be 99% accurate. But home pregnancy tests differ in their ability to find a pregnancy in people who have recently missed a period. If you get a negative test result, but you still think you might be pregnant, take another test one week after your missed period or contact your health care provider.

Could medicine change the test results?

Fertility medication or other medicine that contains HCG might affect home pregnancy test results. Most medicines, though, including antibiotics and birth control pills, don't affect the accuracy of home pregnancy tests.

Could a positive result be wrong?

That's rare. But it is possible to get a positive result from a home pregnancy test when you're not pregnant. This is called a false-positive.

A false-positive might happen if you had a pregnancy loss soon after the fertilized egg attached to the uterine lining. You also may get a false-positive if you take a pregnancy test soon after taking fertility medicine that contains HCG. Problems with the ovaries and menopause also might lead to a false-positive test result.

Could a negative result be wrong?

It's possible to get a negative result from a home pregnancy test when you are pregnant. This is known as a false-negative. You might get a false-negative if you:

• Take the test too early. The earlier you take a home pregnancy test, the harder it is for the test to find HCG. For the most accurate results, take a home pregnancy test after the first day of a missed period.
• Check test results too soon. Set a timer to go off at the time the test directions say you should check the result. Don't check the test until that amount of time has passed.
• Take the test later in the day. For the most accurate results, take the test right after you get up in the morning. That's when your urine is the most concentrated, making HCG easier to find.

What happens next?

Based on the test results, consider taking the following steps:

• Your home pregnancy test is positive, or you've taken a few home pregnancy tests and gotten mixed results. Make an appointment with your health care provider. You might need a blood test or ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy. The sooner a pregnancy is confirmed, the sooner prenatal care can begin.
• Your home pregnancy test is negative. If your period doesn't begin, take the test again in a few days or in one week. It's especially important to do this if you took the test before or right after a missed period.
• You continue to get negative test results, but your period doesn't start. Or you still think you might be pregnant. Contact your health care provider. Your provider may suggest you take a blood test to check for pregnancy, which may be more accurate than a home test. Also, some health problems may lead to missed periods. If you're not pregnant, your health care provider can help you find out what's causing missed periods.

 

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1. Pregnancy tests. Office on Women's Health. https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/pregnancy-tests?from=AtoZ. Accessed Nov. 16, .
2. Home use tests: Pregnancy. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/productsandmedicalprocedures/invitrodiagnostics/homeusetests/ucm.htm. Accessed Nov. 16, .
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