After the physical onset of conception, the level of hCG in the female body begins to rise, and every two to three days its concentration almost doubles. It reaches its highest level at 8–11 weeks, and then it begins to gradually decrease.
The first test can be taken on the 6th day of the expected delay, but the result will be more accurate on the 11th–12th day. Therefore, doctors recommend undergoing blood tests two to three times (every two days each).
Monitoring the level of hCG allows you to monitor the dynamics of pregnancy development, the appearance of pathologies, and more:
• During an ectopic pregnancy, the hormone level practically does not increase:
• If the development of the embryo has stopped, then the level of hCG drops from the moment of its death.
Usually the analysis result is compared with a special table. In the first or second weeks, the concentration of hCG can range from 25 to 700 units, at its peak it can reach 18,000–240,000 units, and at the end of pregnancy – 2,179–60,000 units.
After establishing the fact of conception, the doctor refers the patient to other blood tests:
• General;
• Biochemical;
• For clotting;
• For hepatitis and HIV;
• For the presence of TORCH infections;
• For genetic pathologies;
• Rh factor and blood group (if they have not been determined previously);
• The content of hormones produced by the thyroid gland;
• For antiphospholipid syndrome;
• For the presence of STDs.