How do doctors confirm pregnancy? Tests to confirm pregnancy

How do doctors confirm pregnancy? Tests to confirm pregnancy, Blood test to confirm pregnancy.

Dear Ladies;

I have heard quite a lot about how you can confirm when you are pregnant or not.

The last three months working out of one of Nigeria’s busiest Antenatal Booking Clinic have been an eye opener.

Can morning sickness confirm pregnancy?

While you are here, you should know that this article is to dispel some myths and highlight best practices for pregnancy detection.

MORNING SICKNESS:

Using this as a confirmation for pregnancy is the worst thing anybody can do. Some women do not even get ‘sick’ when pregnant…

A smaller percentage feel nauseated and may actually vomit.
In science, this is non specific although in the hands of medical practitioner it means a lot.

GETTING FATTER? (MYTH)
Some women thing that getting fat and chubby may mean that pregnancy is around the corner…… Wrong!!!
In actual sense it does not tell if someone is pregnant or not. Moreover, it is not healthy to add on excessive weight when you plan to get pregnant.

MISSED PERIOD:
When a woman do not see her monthly menses, among other things, it may be she is pregnant…A missed period means that there is no extrusion of the menstrum due to a host of reasons, pregnancy inclusive.

URINE TEST
Most women use a urine stripe to test their urine for pregnancy chemicals.
You should know that this test is not as sensitive or specific as a blood test..

BLOOD TEST
Ideally, it is done in a laboratory. The results should be ready in 45mins to 1 hour, depending on the lab and reagents used.

Once a blood test confirms pregnancy, you could get an ultrasound scan done. Ultrasound remains the gold standard for confirming pregnancy.

Then proceed for your Antenatal Booking!!

Dr Emeka Okolo