Pregnancy Urine Test

Pregnancy Urine Test

A Pregnanacy Urine Test measures a hormone in the body called human chorionc gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced during pregnancy. This hormone can be detected in small amounts in both the urine and the blood of a pregnancy woman as early as 10 days after conception.

Purpose :

Urine HCG tests are a common method of determining if a woman is pregnant. The best time to test for pregnancy is after the woman miss her period.

Equipment :

• Urine specimen cup.

Preparation :

Allow the patient to wait one to two weeks after her first missed period to get the most accurate results. 

Procedure :

1. Advise the patient to use the test the first time she urinate after waking up. As this urine is the most concentrated. It will contain the highest hCG levels of the day. Urine will become more diluted as the patient drink liquids. So hCG levels may be harder to measure later in the day.

2. Label the specimen cup with the patient's identifying information, complete a laboratory request form requesting an HCG test and send both to the lab.