How to Understand Pregnancy Bloodtest Results

Women who have been trying to get pregnant and have undergone IVF are usually required to have a blood test to determine pregnancy. The hormone hCG is what this blood test will look for. hCG is not present in the blood of women who are not pregnant, and is always present in the blood of women who are pregnant.

Instructions

• 1

  hCG is present in the blood of pregnant women. A urine test can trace this hormone about 10 days after conception, and a blood test can find it a few days sooner. When a blood test determines the presence of hCG, this becomes a base line number.

• 2

  As an embryo grows, the number that represents hCG in the pregnant woman's blood goes up. A second blood test about a month after the first blood test can determine if this number has gone up significantly. This rising number would indicate that the embryo is indeed growing. An unusually high number might indicate that the pregnant woman is carrying multiple thriving embryos.

• 3

  If the hCG indicator number remains the same or goes down, this can indicate a pregnancy in trouble. Only a doctor can tell if the pregnancy is viable or not. But an hCG number must multiply by itself to indicate a healthy embryo, and if it goes down, this can be an indication of loss. If this happens, a doctor will often order an ultrasound to see if a heart beat is present.