Your at-domicile pee stick confirmed the big news when it constitute hCG — aka the pregnancy hormone — in your urine. And your doctor will probably take a closer look at your levels via blood tests to check that they're going up.

And so how much hCG should you actually have in your system — and what if the numbers don't match up with what you've heard is normal?

The truth is that hCG levels can vary a whole lot from 1 pregnancy to some other, fifty-fifty for the same person. And in nearly cases, the only thing you really need to know is that your numbers are consistently rise for the first few months before starting to turn down again later.

Here's more near what's typical based on how far along in your pregnancy you are, plus what it could mean if your levels are lower than boilerplate.

What is hCG?

Human being chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is a pregnancy hormone produced past cells around an embryo to aid form the placenta — the organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy to evangelize nutrients and oxygen to your baby.

HCG makes its fashion into your urine and bloodstream most immediately subsequently an embryo implants in the uterus — and it's the hormone that pregnancy tests (both at-home tests and ones washed by the doctor) wait for to confirm that a baby'south on the way.

Though hCG product kicks in ASAP after implantation, the levels get-go off very low. Merely they chop-chop increment during the early weeks of pregnancy plenty for a dwelling house pregnancy to detect them around xix days after fertilization. (Which is why it's usually best to expect until the day your period is supposed to arrive to take one.) A blood examination tin can typically observe hCG sooner — around 12 days after fertilization.

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HCG can affect your torso in other means. It can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to colds or infections. It'due south too idea to be the culprit behind unpleasant pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness. (Non fun, but a small price to pay for your sweetness piddling package, right?)

Are my hCG levels normal?

You'll know your body is making hCG every bit shortly as yous run into the positive sign on an at-home pregnancy test. But your md will also probable check your levels, either with a 2d urine exam or during your get-go pregnancy blood workup.

This might, naturally, leave yous wondering whether you accept normal hCG levels or non. But trading tales with other momshoped-for or comparing your numbers to what's typical may just make you spin your wheels with worry.

That'southward because every adult female's hormone levels tin fluctuate enormously from twenty-four hours to day, person to person and even pregnancy to pregnancy.

From the time implantation occurs, hCG levels soon begin to soar, increasing past almost sixty per centum every 48 hours, give or take. The rapid increase peaks somewhere betwixt vii and 12 weeks later your last period, and and then starts to decline.

While information technology might sound like a predictable increase, levels aren't even close to predictable. Experts have plant a huge variation in hCG levels on fifty-fifty the start missed day of a woman's catamenia.

Some women have nearly no measurable hCG, while others have readings of more 400 milli-international units per milliliter (mIU/mL). And hCG levels with twins tend to be much higher than with singletons.

Either manner, this is perfectly normal and has to do, in part, with exactly how long information technology took your egg to get fertilized, brand the trip down to the uterus and get snuggled in during implantation. Some embryos are simply zippier than others. It's as well completely normal for that broad range in levels to persist throughout pregnancy.

What are normal hCG levels by week? Check this chart

That said, it'due south understandable if you're still curious near where your numbers stand. Use this hCG levels chart to run across a range of what's typical, keeping in mind that normal hCG levels tin vary quite a bit.

hCG levels chart

Even if your readings autumn outside these ranges, don't worry: It's still quite likely that everything is fine. Your due date may very well be off.

As long as your practitioner confirms that your pregnancy is progressing equally it should — likely using an ultrasound — y'all don't accept to obsess about these numbers. If you are concerned, talk with your doctor about your results.

What causes low hCG levels?

Once more, information technology's important to proceed in mind that hCG levels vary widely from one adult female to the side by side, and having lower numbers than someone else isn't usually cause for business.

What's more of import and relevant than the bodily number itself is that your hCG level falls inside the very wide normal range and continues to increase in the coming weeks until it declines later a few months. So look for a pattern of increasing levels instead of focusing too much on a single number.

That said, very low hCG levels that don't seem to exist increasing can betoken that a pregnancy isn't viable. Typically hCG levels that fail to keep ascension are a sign of:

  • Ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies happen when a fertilized egg implants somewhere outside of the uterus, similar the fallopian tube or the cervix. When that happens, lower amounts of hCG are produced and the embryo tin't develop normally. HCG levels alone do not diagnose an ectopic pregnancy.
  • Miscarriage. Low or declining hCG levels can also be a sign of a miscarriage that has either already happened or is at risk for occurring. Continue in mind, though, that a unmarried hCG reading that's lower than usual isn't necessarily a sign that a woman will experience pregnancy loss.

How do y'all increase hCG levels?

Information technology can be tempting to try remedies or foods that purportedly aid raise your hCG levels. Unfortunately, at that place's no way to modify your hCG levels or make them go upwardly.

What'southward more, hCG levels reflect information nigh your pregnancy, but changing them wouldn't address the cause of whatever potential issues.

During a healthy pregnancy, hCG levels will continue to ascension on their own through nearly the 12th week before starting to naturally pass up. Equally long as your levels are trending upward, you shouldn't worry about trying to make them fifty-fifty higher.

Can you still be pregnant with low hCG levels?

Every adult female's hCG levels are different, so just because your numbers are on the depression side doesn't mean y'all won't take a salubrious pregnancy. The important thing is that your levels are trending upwards overall.

On the other hand, while one lower-than-expected hCG reading isn't necessarily a sign of a problem, levels that consistently tendency downward or plateau in the first trimester may indicate an unviable pregnancy.

Early, rising hCG levels are a sign that your pregnancy is progressing as information technology should be. But your levels don't necessarily have to look just like someone else's to count equally normal. Every bit long every bit they're on the upswing, they're likely right where they need to be for y'all and your babe.