Patient's question:
How long after pregnancy can a pregnancy test detect a positive result in urine?My last menstrual period was on December 5th, and the tests on January 7th and 8th showed negative results in urine. Why did the test on the 15th show positive?
I don’t know exactly when I might be pregnant because I’ve had a continuous cold for a week and it hasn’t healed yet. During this time, I took one dose of Quick-Relief. I saw a lot of information online saying that having a cold in the first month of pregnancy increases the risk of fetal malformation by 50%. I’m very worried: I don’t know exactly when I might be pregnant. What is the earliest time pregnancy can be detected in general?
This baby should...
Doctor's answer:
Menstruation is the earliest and most important symptom of pregnancy. For women of childbearing age with regular menstrual cycles who have had sexual activity, if their period is delayed by more than one week, they should consider whether they might be pregnant.Your test time is still too early, so it won’t show a result.
You can continue to wait. If your period arrives, you can rule out pregnancy. If it’s delayed by more than 7 days, test your morning urine again. If it’s positive, it means you’re pregnant. If it’s negative, test again in three days.
However, pregnancy test strips can sometimes give false-positive or false-negative results. Therefore, if your period is delayed by 10 days, it’s recommended to go to the hospital for an HCG test and ultrasound to confirm.