Normal hcg level. hcg in pregnant women. Decrease in hCG during pregnancy

Throughout pregnancy, the expectant woman in labor undergoes various tests that help determine the normal development of the fetus, identify possible violations of this difficult physiological process and, if possible, eliminate them in time. So, to determine the value of hCG, which can detect a dysfunction of the placenta, an ectopic or missed pregnancy, and many other abnormalities, a woman donates blood (for a more accurate result) or urine (it is a less accurate analysis). What values ​​of hCG are considered normal, as well as what the decrease and increase in this indicator indicates, we will describe in detail below.

HCG levels for each week of pregnancy

The level of this indicator allows you to judge the normal course of pregnancy and identify deviations, so you should familiarize yourself with its norms at each stage of pregnancy.

• In most normal pregnancies, hCG levels below 1200 double every 48-72 hours.

An hCG level less than 5 is considered negative, and all values ​​above 25 are considered positive. If your analysis showed a value in the range of 5-25mU / ml, then it must be repeated in a few days.

At 10-11 and 14-15 weeks of pregnancy, double and triple screening tests are performed, respectively. They, as a component, include hCG and helps to identify abnormalities and disorders in the development of the fetus.

What is HCG?

Already on the 7th day after fertilization, the cells of the future placenta begin to produce a hormone that protects the baby from the "aggressive" effects of the body of a woman who is a mother. This is human chorionic gonadotropin. It can be detected as early as 11 days after conception with a blood test and 12-14 days with a pregnancy test.

Chorionic gonadotropin has an effect similar to stress hormones - corticosteroids. It is it that helps a woman to endure the stress of the body, which is associated with pregnancy, plus weakens her immunity, which prevents the latter from rejecting the developing embryo.

Decrease and increase in hCG levels

It should be understood that no diagnosis can be made only by the value of this hormone. For its correctness, it is necessary to conduct an ultrasound scan and determine the second rate of b hCG.

However, a decrease in the latter relative to the norm may indicate such things:

• the threat of spontaneous miscarriage or an empty fetal egg,
• incorrectly determined gestational age,
• frozen or
• fetal growth retardation
• dysfunction of the placenta.

The increase may be related to

• the use of synthetic hormones by the future woman in labor,
• some of her diseases and ailments (late toxicosis, diabetes mellitus),
• hereditary diseases of the fetus or malformations of its development,
• multiple pregnancy,
• incorrectly set gestational age.

HCG indicator during early pregnancy: low, high. What does the drop in level mean?

What else does low hCG mean? Not excluded. This means the following: fertilization took place, but for some reason the body recognized the fetus as unviable and rejected it even before the delay in menstruation. A woman, most often, does not even suspect that a new life is ripening in her. True, in some women in this case, menstruation somewhat changes its character (due to the implantation that has begun and failed):

• discharge becomes copious;
• pain in the lower abdomen is felt;
• discharge takes a little longer than usual.

There is no need to regret the termination of such a pregnancy: the body was able to recognize the defects of the future fetus incompatible with life and eliminated everything without consequences for the life and health of the mother.

Decrease in hCG in early pregnancy

An unfavorable sign is a decrease in the hCG rate to 11 weeks. HCG drops in early pregnancy for reasons:

• beginning miscarriage;
• fetal circulatory disorders.

If hCG is more than half the norm, this is an occasion to observe a woman for a week. If there are signs of a spontaneous abortion that has begun, the woman is placed in a hospital for preservation.

Elevated hCG during early pregnancy

It would seem that elevated hCG during early pregnancy is good. The fetus is successfully fixed, the hormone is actively secreted, it increases rapidly - everything is fine. Indeed, most often the body can increase the level of the hormone during pregnancy with twins or triplets. In this case, when a multiple pregnancy is confirmed by ultrasound, a woman can rejoice - a physiological increase.

But large hCG also occurs under other circumstances:

• development of tumors (including malignant);
• Down syndrome in a developing fetus;
• other developmental anomalies - in particular, neural tube defects;
• blistering.

What level of hCG is considered really high - in each specific situation, you need to ask your doctor. Self-diagnosis is unacceptable.

It is imperative to monitor hCG in dynamics, since this hormone is a marker of a normal, progressing pregnancy. If you want to make sure that everything is in order, periodically take an analysis until the 11th week, and then you will have much less reason to worry. And if the mother is calm, everything will be fine with the child too.

Actual video

Among the list of tests that a woman must undergo during pregnancy or just planning to become a mother, you can find the abbreviation "hCG" but what is it? This analysis shows the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin, let's consider it in more detail.

HCG, what is it?

HCG is a hormone that has a protein nature and consists of two fractions - alpha and beta. Of clinical interest is the beta fraction of the hormone, since alpha is similar in structure to other female hormones. And beta is unique - this makes it easy to determine it in the blood.

The biological role of hCG in the body of a pregnant woman:

1. The hCG hormone contributes to the preservation of the corpus luteum during pregnancy and the production of progesterone by it before the full work of the placenta begins. This contributes to the preservation of pregnancy and the bearing of a healthy child. Without enough hormone, motherhood will not take place. The placenta begins to synthesize female hormones on its own from about 16 weeks.

2. Chorionic gonadotropin helps a woman get used to the onset of pregnancy, stimulating the adrenal glands to produce glucocorticoids, making the expectant mother more resistant to stress. Carrying a child is stressful for the female body, especially in the early stages.

3. When the placenta has already formed (at week 16), hCG provides good nutrition and development, preventing premature detachment.

4. In medicine, the introduction of a hormone through injections is practiced. It stimulates ovulation and promotes conception in women. Using such injections in men, you can achieve an increase in the level of sex hormones and improve the quality of sperm.

Norms of hCG indicators in women

It is not difficult to take an analysis for the level of hCG: this is an ordinary blood test from a vein. The result of the analysis is usually issued on the same day or the next.

Deciphering the result of the analysis done for hCG lies on the shoulders of the doctor. It is difficult to understand the abundance of numbers and meanings on your own. However, you should remember how the hormone level changes depending on the duration of pregnancy and know the average values ​​in non-pregnant women (see table).

Important! Norm indicators may vary, depending on the laboratory that performed the analysis.

In girls and men, hCG levels should be 0-5 mU / ml. This amount is so small that a test performed to determine hCG in the urine does not respond to it and will show one strip.

From the first days of pregnancy, the level of hCG will increase. This happens until 11–12 weeks, when the highest value of the hormone is noted. Further, gonadotropin gradually decreases and in the last stages of pregnancy shows approximately the same value.

Increasing hCG during pregnancy

With the onset of fertilization, the level of human chorionic gonadotropin increases. This happens literally immediately after fertilization.

The quantitative composition of the hormone is steadily growing and reaches a maximum by week 11, and then declines. In the second half of pregnancy, the indicators stabilize and change little.

Express tests sold at a pharmacy to determine pregnancy can change color when hCG is found in the urine. Although the method is not as revealing as a blood test for hCG, it is still quite accurate. In a non-pregnant woman, the result will be negative, while a pregnant woman will be able to find out about the presence of pregnancy before other signs appear.

A blood test for chorionic gonadotropin is able to give an answer after 7-10 days from the moment the egg and sperm meet. Obtaining the results of an hCG analysis at such an early date makes it possible to control the course of pregnancy almost from the very moment of fertilization.

Carefully monitoring the levels of the most important pregnancy hormone will help prevent pregnancy complications, including its termination. This is true for women who unsuccessfully tried to experience the joy of motherhood, as well as for late-born or women with a burdened obstetric history.

If the level of hCG in a woman "in an interesting position" exceeds the norm, then this may be evidence of the following processes in the body:

1. When carrying two or three fruits.
2. Diseases of the fetus at the chromosomal level (Down's syndrome).
3. Diabetes mellitus in the anamnesis of a pregnant woman.
4. Severe course of gestosis during pregnancy.
5. The use of female hormones from the outside.

Decrease in hCG during pregnancy

Gonadotropin levels may decrease in the following cases:

1. With an atypical location of the fetal egg (tubal, or).
2. If the fetus lags behind in its development.
3. With a frozen pregnancy.
4. In violation of blood circulation between the baby and the placenta or between the placenta and the uterus.
5. If .
6. When overridden.

Increasing hCG in women and men

A blood test for the hCG hormone in a non-pregnant woman or in men provides important diagnostic information. There were cases when men, for fun, did an analysis using a pregnancy test and received two strips.

On the one hand, this seems to be ridiculous and impossible, but on the other hand, this is not a reason for jokes. Chorionic gonadotropin can appear in the body of men and women with the development of a malignant tumor.

These are the so-called hormone-producing tumors that can form in the organs of the reproductive system, lungs, and stomach.

Deciphering the analysis of hCG, table

For a doctor, deciphering the result of an hCG analysis carries a lot of information during pregnancy. By analyzing the blood counts for the quantitative content of the hormone, the doctor will determine the gestational age with high accuracy, and will also be able to suspect an ectopic pregnancy, some flow pathologies, an impending miscarriage, etc.

This will help to take measures to save the desired child and take actions aimed at preventing complications in the expectant mother and her baby.

Of course, only the level of this hormone is not diagnosed. More research is needed. But it is the amount of the main hormone of motherhood that indicates a possible problem and directs the doctor in the right direction to identify this problem.

The results of the analysis for hCG made in the laboratory can be indicated in different units of measurement: mU / ml, U / lm, IU / ml, mIU / ml - this is the same. remember, that The rate of results in each laboratory may vary slightly!

This is a hormone that is secreted by the membranes of the embryo. The presence of hCG in the body indicates that a woman is pregnant. HCG analysis is very important. Since with it you can prevent spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), identify a missed pregnancy, an ectopic location of the fetal egg.

How to determine hCG and what are its norms

In order to check whether a woman's blood contains chorionic gonadotropin, you need to do a blood test, urine test, and it can also come to the rescue. A blood test for hCG should be taken in the morning, when the woman has not yet eaten anything. If the analysis is not to be taken in the morning, then before it you need not to eat for at least four hours. It is best to do this analysis five days after the egg is implanted, even before the start of a missed period. In women who do not bear a child, the level of hCG is less than 15 mU / ml. The blood test is the most accurate. It is followed by a urinalysis somewhat lower in accuracy. The most unreliable is the pregnancy test, however, due to the fact that it is convenient to use, it is most often used by women. Tests can show an accurate result from the first day of a missed period. But there are especially ones that are able to show results even three days before the expected date of menstruation.

In the table below, you can see how hCG increases every week. In the first trimester of pregnancy, its growth is very rapid, and in the first weeks it doubles every 36-48 hours. At the tenth week, growth stops.

Normal are such values ​​​​of hCG by week

• One - two weeks - the level of hCG can be from 25 to 156 mU / ml.
• On the second - third week - 101 - 4870
• On the fourth - fifth week, the normal value is from 2560 to 82300 mU / ml.
• On the fifth - sixth week - 23100 - 151000 mU / ml.
• Sixth - seventh week of pregnancy - 27300 - 233000 mU / ml.
• Seventh - eleventh week - 20900 - 291000 mU / ml.
• Eleventh - sixteenth week - 6140 - 103000 mU / ml.
• Sixteenth - twenty-first week - 4720 - 80100 mU / ml.
• Twenty-first - thirty-ninth week - 2700 - 78100 mU / ml.

What does low or high hCG indicate?

HCG indicates not only the presence or absence of pregnancy. Its level in the body can vary from various pathological diseases of the body. This analysis is very often prescribed by gynecologists in order to diagnose a woman.

If a woman has a low level of hCG during pregnancy, then this may indicate that she has some problems associated with bearing a child. If the level of this hormone does not increase with the duration of pregnancy, then this basically means that the development of the fetus has stopped. In this case, pilaf dies or its development freezes. Most often, a spontaneous abortion occurs, that is, a miscarriage, but if, after detecting the fading of the fetus, it does not exist, then the doctors prescribe a curettage of the uterine cavity for the woman. Some women have an ectopic pregnancy. If it develops in a woman, then her tests will also show a low level of hCG. At the earliest stages of fetal development, the level of the hormone is within the normal range, and in the future its growth slows down. The reason for this is that the fetus is inappropriately located, and also for the reason that the chorion exfoliates. In some cases, the slowdown is caused by the threat of interruption, which is caused by hormonal changes. Low levels of hCG do not always indicate any disorders and diseases. Sometimes doctors can give an inaccurate gestational age due to ovulation that has come out of time, or incorrect information provided to the doctor about the woman's menstrual cycle.

Also, elevated hCG can be diagnosed during pregnancy. In the early stages, this happens in cases where a woman bears two children, or even more. Diabetes mellitus can also serve as a reason for the increase in hCG. If, during an examination in the second trimester of pregnancy, an increased level of hCG is found in the body, then this indicates that the child may develop Down syndrome. But in this case, doctors can only make an assumption, since one analysis of hCG is not enough to make this diagnosis. When childbirth does not come on time, and a woman overwears the baby, the level of this hormone in the body can also increase. This negatively affects the health of the baby. For these reasons, testing for hCG levels is so important.

False analysis result

In some cases, human chorionic gonadotropin can be found in the body of a woman who is not pregnant, sometimes in the male body.

Possible reasons for this:

• Choriocarcinoma and hydatidiform mole;
• Testicular teratoma and seminoma (testicular tumor in men, often malignant);
• Neoplasms of the kidneys, uterus, as well as other organs;
• The first week after the abortion;
• Taking medications that contain chorionic gonadotropin in their composition. Such drugs are often used by women who are preparing for.

HCG analysis is used to determine pregnancy, as well as to determine ectopic pregnancy, as well as to determine some oncological diseases.

HCG in pregnant women is checked in the first trimester in several cases, but all of them are associated with the identification of a possible pathology of embryo development. A reduced or, conversely, an increased level of this hormone is very indicative for gynecologists in the diagnosis of various abnormalities and their prevention. So, what is the normal level of hCG in pregnant women, and what does its increase or decrease indicate?

For the first time, chorionic gonadotropin is detected using laboratory blood and urine tests (or using a pregnancy test) 2-3 days after implantation of a fertilized egg in the wall of the uterus or other organ (in the case of an ectopic). From this point on, you can take an HCG analysis in pregnant women. Every 36-48 hours, the hCG readings double, and this continues until about 8-12 weeks, then the growth slows down dramatically. This analysis is considered the most accurate in diagnosing an interesting situation at the earliest possible date, even before the onset of delayed menstruation, when ultrasound of the uterus and gynecological examination do not give a complete picture. Growth trends are measured in exceptional cases, if the doctor suspects a frozen or ectopic pregnancy, for example. You can see the norms of hCG at different times in a special plate.

HCG in pregnant and non-pregnant women (normal) by week of pregnancy

Men and non-pregnant women 0 - 5

In pregnant women:

Below normal

Possible reasons:

• ectopic pregnancy (in this case, growth may be normal at first, but slow down by 4-6 weeks, which indicates either the death of the fetus, or that spontaneous interruption or rupture of the organ where the embryo develops will soon occur, in the case of the fallopian tube) ;
• frozen pregnancy (there is a cessation of growth or even a fall, in addition, the doctor notes the lack of growth of the uterus, the disappearance of other signs of pregnancy - toxicosis, tension of the mammary glands, etc.);
• in the 2nd and 3rd trimester - fetal death or intrauterine growth retardation is possible;
• prolongation of pregnancy (additional signs: fetal heartbeat disorders, rapid aging of the placenta, a decrease in the volume of amniotic fluid, a decrease in the number of fetal movements, etc.).

Above normal

Possible reasons:

• multiple pregnancy (increase according to the number of gestated fetuses);
• severe early toxicosis or late (preeclampsia);
• diabetes mellitus (usually in combination with toxicosis);
• Down syndrome and other serious chromosomal pathologies (then a high hCG is diagnosed in pregnant women, which is 2 times or more than normal, is checked during routine screening).

But not everything is always so sad, and deviations from the norm in one direction or another are not always a sign of pathology. Perhaps the gestational age was initially set incorrectly, hence the discrepancies. By the way, the gestational age can be set accurately only in the first half of the first trimester using an ultrasound with a vaginal probe or an examination by an experienced gynecologist. For longer periods there may be errors.

If there is no pregnancy

This situation can be much more dangerous for women, and for men too ... Only in 2 cases, normal hCG in non-pregnant women is increased. If an abortion was performed a few days before the analysis. Or if a person is taking a drug containing this component. These can be prescribed in the treatment of infertility, for example (the drug "Pregnil").

Other possible options are associated with oncology, as well as a high risk of malignant neoplasms or benign degeneration in them. Elevated hCG in pregnant women is normal, and for those who are not preparing to become a mother or in general for males, this is a very alarming symptom. This can be observed with choriocarcinoma and cystic drift, malignant neoplasms of female and male internal and external genital organs, as well as organs that have nothing to do with the reproductive system - kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, etc.