Once you know you're pregnant, you want assurances about the health of you and your unborn child. That's where prenatal testing comes in. Prenatal tests are medical tests you get during pregnancy. They are done routinely at the first prenatal visit and then subsequently, several times during pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests, for example, detect a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the blood or urine, which is produced within days after implantation when the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus. This usually happens about nine days after fertilization, with a range between 6-12 days. If you are pregnant, levels of hCG continue to rise rapidly, doubling early on every two to three days.
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Here's a look at the most common prenatal and pregnancy tests, many of which you can expect to undergo at some point during your pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests
- First Trimester First Visit Pregnancy Tests
- How Do Pregnancy Tests Work?
- I Missed My Period But My Pregnancy Test Is Negative
- What Is A False Negative Pregnancy Test?
- What Is A False Positive Pregnancy Test?
- How Accurate Are Pregnancy Tests?
- How Early Can I Test For Pregnancy?
- Pregnancy Test Strips
- Pregnancy Chance with a Negative Pregnancy Test
- No Period, Am I Pregnant?
- Pregnancy Test: When Positive
- Negative Pregnancy Tests
- Positive Pregnancy Tests
- What Does A Faint Line On A Pregnancy Test Mean?
- What Are Pregnancy Test Evaporation Lines?
- What Chemical Pregnancy?
- First Morning Urine & Pregnancy Testing
- Pregnancy Test Kit Sensitivity & Accuracy
- When To Take a Pregnancy Test
- Blood Pregnancy Test
- Ovulation Test As Pregnancy Test
Special tests
First-trimester tests
- Pregnancy Landmarks: Which and When?
- Your Pregnancy Week-By-Week
- Tests at the first prenatal visit
- The Doctor's Examination
- Cell-free DNA test
- Urine Test
- Earliest Ultrasound Pregnancy Diagnosis
- Ultrasound
- Infections
- Blood Type and Rh Factor
- Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
- First Trimester Screen
Second-trimester tests
- Fetal Health Testing - An Overview
- Amniocentesis
- Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Screening (MSAFP)
- Quad/Triple Screen: Multiple Marker Screen
- Anatomy Ultrasound
- Fetal Echocardiogram
Third-trimester tests
- Biophysical Profile Score (BPP or BPS)
- Fetal Non-Stress Test (NST)
- 1-hour glucose challenge test (GCT)
- 3-hour glucose tolerance test (GTT)
- Group B Streptococcus (GBS) Test
- Growth Ultrasound
Certain tests are done during pregnancy only if you have certain problems that may affect your health and your baby’s health. Many, though not all, conditions can be detected before and during pregnancy. Knowing about your baby before birth can be helpful in making decisions before and after birth.
Read More:
Prenatal Pregnancy Tests
Prenatal Care in the Age of COVID
Why Do Doctors Measure Your Stomach at Prenatal Visits?