What Does HCG Do In Pregnancy?

HCG is a human chorionic gonadotropin hormone secreted by the placenta. If a woman is pregnant, it can be detected in her urine. Blood tests measuring HCG levels can also check how well a woman maintains pregnancy.

Have you ever wondered how a pregnancy test at home can detect if you are pregnant? HCG hormone plays a crucial role in the early stages of pregnancy. HCG is secreted by cells surrounding the growing embryo, which eventually forms the placenta. HCG can be found in your body as early as one week after conception.

What does HCG do?

A sperm fertilizes an egg in a fallopian tube. Within nine days, the fertilized egg moves towards the fallopian tube into the uterus, which implants to the uterus wall. Once you conceive, the developing placenta begins to produce and release HCG. Some amount of HCG injection gets passed into your urine. Usually, it takes up to 14 days for your HCG levels to be high enough to be detected in your urine at home with a home pregnancy test. If you do a pregnancy test on the very first day after you missed periods, and it came to be negative, wait for seven days. If you still think you might be pregnant, do it again or speak to your doctor. Your doctor may refer a blood test to confirm your HCG levels. Low hormone levels may be detected in blood around 8 to 11 days after conceiving the baby. The highest HCG levels are detected during the end of the first trimester and then gradually reduce over the rest of your pregnancy. 

What complications can occur with HCG?

The amount of HCG in your bloodstream can provide information about your pregnancy and the health of your baby.

• If higher than expected levels are detected, there is a chance of multiple pregnancies or abnormal growth in the uterus.
• The decline in HCG levels may indicate pregnancy loss or the risk of miscarriage.
• Rising levels slower than expected could indicate an ectopic pregnancy (where the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube). In the absence of pregnancy, high HCG levels may be due to certain cancers such as lung, breast, or kidney.

HCG and Multiple Pregnancies

Multiple pregnancies can be diagnosed by detecting HCG levels. A high level may indicate you are carrying multiple babies, but it can be caused due to other factors as well. Your doctor will perform an ultrasound to confirm if you have twins or more in such a case. Detecting HCG levels in your bloodstream do not provide a diagnosis of anything. They can only help to know there are no issues to look into.

Conclusion :

HCG is a hormone produced by the cells of the placenta during pregnancy. The hormone stimulates the production of Progesterone to maintain pregnancy. Measuring HCG levels can help identify a normal pregnancy, ectopic or multiple pregnancies. The hormone can be detected in the urine from 7 to 9 days post-fertilization as the embryo implants to the uterus wall. This forms the basis of most home or hospital pregnancy tests. You can buy HCG online at an affordable price in the USA.