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Chemical Pregnancy and Blighted Ovum

The Role of Blighted Ovum and Chemical Pregnancy in Miscarriages

By Laurie Dove

Using beta-hCg blood testing, a woman can test positive for pregnancy before even one day of a menstrual period is missed, usually 11 or 12 days after conception.

However, says Dr. Martinez, some health care providers discourage this type of testing, because of the condition known as chemical pregnancy. Although the blood test can detect a very low hCg level that indicates pregnancy a few days before a period, two to three days later, a period may start. Without the test, most women would never have known they were briefly pregnant.

"This happens more often than most women know," Dr. Martinez says.

She recommends waiting until a period has been missed for several days before testing for pregnancy, unless under the care of a fertility specialist. For most women, a week-late period can be monitored with a home pregnancy test and, if positive, a visit to the obstetrician to confirm the results.

Some women have become all too aware of what the term "chemical pregnancy" means.

After three years of trying to conceive, 26-year-old Kathryn Lay of Arlington, Texas, believed she had succeeded.

"I had taken test after test at home, and this one looked positive to me," she says. "I went to the doctor a week later and he took another test and thought it looked questionable, but examined me and thought I was about 5 or 6 weeks along."

Lay continued to believe she was pregnant, so much so that she even convinced her body. Physical symptoms of pregnancy appeared, like morning sickness and tender breasts. But her doctor had startling news at her next checkup.

Want to see more?

• Out of Place: Ectopic Pregnancy
• Life after Miscarriage: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy
• Molar Pregnancy: Just the Facts
• Check out our Article Library.
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