Table of Contents Show
Worried about what to do after a positive pregnancy test1? Well, why worry when we are here for you?
Let’s see what all is needed to be done.
Pregnancy Test

A pregnancy test is a diagnostic test used to check whether a female is pregnant or not. The two primary methods of a pregnancy test are-
-
Testing for the female pregnancy hormone (HCG) in blood or urine with the help of a pregnancy test kit- A pregnancy test tells whether a woman is pregnant or not by checking for a particular HCG hormone
2(human Chorionic Gonadotrophin hormone) in her blood or urine.
-
Scanning with Ultrasonography- It is an ultrasound scan
3that uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of part of the inside of the body. So, by creating an image of the internal part of the body, a picture of whether a woman is pregnant or not. It is also used to monitor an unborn baby during the whole pregnancy.
HCG, the female pregnancy hormone, stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin hormone. HCG is made in a woman’s placenta after a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. It is generally made during pregnancy.
Its also used with other fertility drugs to increase a woman’s pregnancy chances. HCG also helps the production of testosterone 4and sperm in men and adolescent boys. HCG is also used in male children with cryptorchidism 5(a specific birth problem of the testes).
Types of Pregnancy Tests
There are two main types of pregnancy tests-
-
Blood Pregnancy Test
-
Urine Pregnancy Test
Blood Pregnancy Test
A blood pregnancy test is usually done in the laboratory. A blood pregnancy test kit is easily available at medical stores and is more expensive than a urine pregnancy test kit.
Blood pregnancy tests are quantitative tests; blood pregnancy tests provide the amount of HCG in the blood in the form of a number. The level of HCG hormone in the blood is detected through this pregnancy test. A blood test is also known as a beta HCG test.
Advantages of blood pregnancy tests-
-
The main advantage of this pregnancy test is that it provides a high degree of accuracy.
-
The time of pregnancy is also detected in this pregnancy test and shown on the reports.
-
Any complications in pregnancy, like ectopic pregnancy or tumour pregnancy, are detected in this pregnancy test. In ectopic pregnancy or tumour pregnancy, the level of HCG hormone does not rise, like in normal pregnancy.
Urine Pregnancy Test
A urine pregnancy test can be done very easily at home since these tests can say to be home pregnancy tests. Urine pregnancy test kit is easily available at medical stores. A urine pregnancy test kit is cheaper than a blood test kit.
For this test, please pay attention that a female must use her first urine sample in the morning after missing her period because it increases the accuracy of this test.
If a female uses her urine sample after drinking water, then the concentration of HCG hormone decreases in the urine so the pregnancy test result may be false. Urine pregnancy tests are not quantitative tests; these tests only have a positive or negative impact.
Limitations of urine pregnancy tests-
-
A urine pregnancy test cannot detect the time of pregnancy.
-
Any complications in pregnancy, like ectopic pregnancy or tumour pregnancy, cannot be detected by a urine pregnancy test.
In both of these pregnancy tests, the presence of HCG hormone in the female’s body is checked. When an egg is implanted in the lining of the uterus after fertilization, HCG hormone is released into the female’s body. And in the next pregnancy, the level of HCG hormone rises rapidly in the female’s body.
These tests are commonly known as the human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) test.
Office Pregnancy Test
Blood pregnancy tests are office pregnancy tests. They are always done in laboratories. When a urine pregnancy test is done at the doctor’s office, it is also considered an office pregnancy test.
This test results much faster than a pregnancy blood test, usually within a few minutes. Office pregnancy tests are more accurate than home pregnancy tests. Both pregnancy tests at a doctor’s office are 99 % accurate.
Sometimes, the office pregnancy test may be wrong or false. If a woman’s pregnancy is in its early stages and her body has not yet produced enough HCG for the pregnancy test to detect, she could get a wrong or false negative, which means she is pregnant even though the test says she is not.
Pregnancy Test Results
Pregnancy test results are of two types-
-
Positive pregnancy test result
-
Negative pregnancy test result
Positive Pregnancy Test Results
If a female gets a positive pregnancy test result, she can be over 99% certain she is pregnant. The results may be shown as a line, colour, or sign. If a female gets a positive result, she might feel joy, fear, disbelief, or everything at once.
Pregnancy tests work by detecting the hormone HCG, which is usually only present when you are pregnant. Any test line, even a faint line, counts as a positive result. Some Clear blue tests show a positive result as a plus (+) sign.
With others, you will see two vertical lines if you are pregnant and one line if you are not pregnant. And for unmistakably clear results, a digital test spells out “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant” in words.
A true-false positive one where you were never pregnant in the first place is incredibly rare. However, you can test positive and then later try negative because the pregnancy does not continue, which is called early pregnancy loss.
If your result is pregnant, there is no need to test again unless you want to, but do make sure to see your doctor.
Pregnancy Symptoms
11 days past ovulation (DPO) is a very eleven stage in your pregnancy.
Is 11 days past ovulation (DPO) the right time to take a pregnancy test?
When the body of a female may have started releasing the HCG hormone 11 days past ovulation (OPD), the levels may still be very low. Hence, 11 days past the ovulation (DPO) test may still be very early to get a reliable confirmation for the same female.
Positive Pregnancy Signs at 11 DPO
-
Cramping: it is natural to feel cramping in the lower abdomen as your body prepares for your growing baby. If a female is at 11 days past ovulation, cramps may indicate that she has conceived.
-
Implantation Bleeding: – When the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining, it may lead to implantation bleeding. Not all women experience implantation bleeding, and the amount of bleeding also varies among females.
-
Morning Sickness: – Nausea and vomiting, popularly known as morning sickness, are early pregnancy symptoms. Some females may experience it throughout their pregnancy, while most others have it in the first trimester.
-
Increased Urination: – After conception, the body of a female increase the blood flow to her kidneys. This leads to increased or frequent Urination. The frequent need to urinate subsides by the end of the first trimester.
Implantation at 11 DPO
Implantation of the fertilized egg usually happens eight to ten days before ovulation. One after 10 DPO, late implantation may increase the risk of pregnancy loss or miscarriage.
What If you do not have pregnancy symptoms at 11 DPO?
At 11 DPO, no symptoms do not automatically equate to no pregnancy. Each woman is different, and the body responds and reacts differently. Remember, feeling normal during early pregnancy is not a bad thing.
Chemical Pregnancy
Chemical pregnancy refers to early pregnancy loss. A chemical pregnancy is a very common problem. Chemical pregnancies are seen in around 50% of pregnant women.
How to diagnose chemical pregnancy?
When the regular period of a pregnant woman gets delayed and then, after some time, suddenly starts, this is a sign of chemical pregnancy.
When a female does a pregnancy test too early, her period gets started automatically at her period date or after one or two weeks. This is also a sign of chemical pregnancy.
During chemical pregnancy, when urine pregnancy results come positive, doctors advise doing sonography, and pregnancy does not detect in sonography. Then doctors suggest doing a beta-HCG blood test (beta-HCG is a blood test used to measure HCG levels in early pregnancy).
Sometimes, it is also seen that beta-HCG blood test is also positive, but the level of HCG hormone remains very low. Even after these positive results, a female gets her period after some days.
Healthy Pregnancy
A pregnancy in which the mother feels good and happy the whole 9 months other than the normal discomforts such as morning sickness and cramping. All women wish to have a healthy pregnancy.
Healthy Pregnancy Symptoms
The first sign of healthy pregnancy is to initiation of the heartbeat of the baby within six to seven weeks or the first trimester. Most abortions happen automatically within the first trimester or the first 13 weeks.
The second sign of healthy pregnancy is the right anti-scan at 12 weeks.
If we talk about the second trimester of pregnancy, then in the starting and during the second trimester of pregnancy, the mouth of the womb should be in the right direction and should not be open, which means the mouth of the womb should be closed.
The right length of the womb in the second trimester of pregnancy indicates a healthy pregnancy. If the length of this womb is less or it starts to open, it means premature delivery. That’s why it is very important to be the right length of the womb in the second trimester of pregnancy.
Suppose a woman has health problems like blood pressure, diabetes, heart-related issues, kidney-related problems, or other problems. In that case, it is more important to care for the mother and baby very carefully.
In the third trimester of pregnancy, there are a lot of chances of increasing blood pressure and diabetes; these are known as pregnancy-induced blood pressure and pregnancy-induced diabetes.
That’s why it is important to have normal blood pressure and diabetes at the start of the third trimester for a healthy pregnancy. The placenta should be in the right position for a healthy pregnancy.
In sonography, the baby’s growth should be right according to weeks, and the blood flow toward the baby should be normal in the third trimester. These are signs of a healthy pregnancy.
The weight gain of a pregnant woman should neither be less nor more. The weight gain during pregnancy should be normal. That is, weight gain should be up to 10 to 12 kg only.
One of the most important signs of a healthy pregnancy is the activities and movements of the baby should be normal. The activities and movements of the baby indicactionsod flow of oxygen toward the baby. It means the baby is out of danger.
What to do after a positive pregnancy test results?
The first thing to do after a positive pregnancy test result is to visit your gynaecologist. It is not a very good idea to keep on waiting and thinking that after one or two or three weeks, I will go and see or test again and then see.
As soon as the pregnancy test comes positive, it is better to go and meet the doctor because there could be conditions where you might need some support from doctors in the form of medicines.
Some pregnancies don’t do well, and some end up in the tubes, which is the wrong location, and there can be other medical issues that need to be sorted out as soon as you become pregnant.
When you visit your gynaecologist, always remember that you have to remember the date of your last period because all your dating of pregnancy happens from that day, the first day of the last period. Then, it would be best if you came clean apreviousr as history is concerned.
Do not hide anything from the doctor; whether you have had any surgeries, any other terminations, or any other problems, you have been taking some medicines for diabetes, blood pressure, or epilepsy, all these have to be told very clearly to the doctor because certain medications are not allowed in pregnancy.
So, if you are on some medications, say for epilepsy, blood pressure, or something else, these can be changed to the safer alternatives you can take during your pregnancy.
Another thing is that folic acid has to be started soon after the positive pregnancy test result. You should be taking it before you start planning.
So, if you are not on folic acid and do not visit your doctor, you are wasting that precious time sitting at home and not providing your baby with an adequate dose of folic acid.
So, as soon as you miss your period and test positive, it is important to go and get checked by the doctor and stick to the test that she prescribes.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins help promote the development of the baby’s teeth and bones. The need for micronutrients increases significantly during pregnancy. These micronutrients include Folic acid, Vitamins D and C, Thiamine, and Riboflavin.

Folic acid help prevents congenital disabilities, which are known as neural tube defects, including spina bifida. A woman should start taking folic acid as soon as possible if she is conceived.
Prenatal Care
Prenatal care is medical care that a woman gets during her pregnancy. In prenatal care, a pregnant woman gets checkups from a doctor, nurse, or midwife throughout her pregnancy. Her healthcare provider checks on her and her growing baby at each prenatal care visit.
A woman should schedule her first prenatal care checkup as soon as she thinks she is pregnant. Her provider can make sure she is healthy, and she can find out her due date.

First Prenatal Appointment
A woman will make an appointment for her first prenatal visit after her pregnancy is confirmed. Her doctor will likely schedule the appointment 6 to 8 weeks into her pregnancy. However, they may see her sooner if she has an existing medical condition.
Gynecologic History
For the gynecologic history, your doctors might enquire about the problem regarding the cause of the visit, past and present menstrual periods, pregnancies, and sexual activities involved.
Public Health
The maternal mortality rate is rising, and black women have the highest risk. Extending access to postpartum health care would prevent deaths.
Well, I hope you know what you need to do if you find out that you are pregnant.

- Dimitriadis, Evdokia, et al. “Recurrent pregnancy loss.” Nature reviews disease primers 6.1 (2020): 98. ↩︎
- Gridelet, Virginie, et al. “Human chorionic gonadotrophin: new pleiotropic functions for an “old” hormone during pregnancy.” Frontiers in immunology 11 (2020): 343. ↩︎
- Al-Dhabyani, Walid, et al. “Dataset of breast ultrasound images.” Data in brief 28 (2020): 104863. ↩︎
- Barbonetti, Arcangelo, Settimio D’Andrea, and Sandro Francavilla. “Testosterone replacement therapy.” Andrology 8.6 (2020): 1551-1566. ↩︎
- Rodprasert, Wiwat, et al. “Hypogonadism and cryptorchidism.” Frontiers in endocrinology 10 (2020): 906. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Suchi