Do hCG Levels Really Indicate a Miscarriage?
Are
hCG levels
really accurate? Many women when they find out they are pregnant, call their O.B. right away to schedule their blood test (a.k.a. have their betas drawn). Many pregnant women, especially those who have either had a problem conceiving, or who have suffered a miscarriage before, worry about their numbers and what exactly they may indicate. While hCG levels are a pretty good indicator of whether or not your baby thriving, they may be misleading.
If you have ever looked at an hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) chart, you will know that the range for a normal pregnancy at 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks and so on is quite large. For example a woman who is 4 weeks pregnant, may have a level of 45 or 345, and both are perfect. The biggest thing to remember when analyzing your betas is, are they rising, and how quickly? It isn't so much the number as it is how quickly the numbers are doubling. For a normal, singleton pregnancy the levels should double every 48-72 hours (and some even quicker then that). If your levels are taking longer than 72 hours to double, there may be cause for concern, but only your doctor can determine if there truly is a problem, and the best way for he or she to do that would be with an ultrasound.
*Less than 5 mIU/ml = non-pregnant female. Data obtained from americanpregnancy.org Because of the varying ranges and times for doubling, going by hCG levels alone is not a good indicator for a miscarriage. It can only tell you that you are pregnant and give a general idea of how far along you are. But in order to know if your baby is okay and thriving you would need to have an ultrasound performed somewhere around 6 weeks, when the levels are over 1,000 hCG and the heartbeat can be both seen and heard. |Breastfeeding |Inducing Labor Naturally | |Trying to Conceive | Diet | |Home Pregnancy Tests |Am I Pregnant? | |Maternity Clothes |Hospital List | |Holistic | | Baby Shower Ideas | Work from Home |
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