What to Expect When Undergoing a Pregnancy Blood TestWhile many women find it convenient to simply buy a home pregnancy kit to determine whether or not they are pregnant, others still want highly accurate answers. That’s what pregnancy blood tests are for – they detect hCG levels in the blood to determine if a fetus and a placenta are forming in the woman’s womb. Done accurately and in proper timing, there is very little room for error with this type of pregnancy test. Here’s what you should be prepared for should you decide to undergo one. There are two types of blood tests done for pregnancy screening. The first one is qualitative, which simply tells the doctor whether a woman is pregnant or not. IN short, it is very much like the home pregnancy kits. The second type of blood test for pregnancy is more quantitative in nature – it tells the doctor just how much hormone or hCG is in the blood, as the amount helps determine the age of the fetus in the mother’s body. The quantitative blood test also allows the doctor to determine whether the pregnancy is progressing normally, as it should. It is like any other blood test done in a doctor’s office or lab. A doctor, or a medical laboratory technician will extract blood from a vein in the forearm. Prior to extraction with a syringe, the area to be punctured is cleaned and a tourniquet is applied to make the vein more apparent. The vein will then be punctured by a small needle, and when the tourniquet is removed, the blood will flow into the syringe, or a small testing vial. The doctor will have it analyzed in the lab, depending on what type of test he or she needs done – sometimes, it’s just qualitative, or quantitative, and other times, it’s both. Related articles
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