Is hCG Present All The Time?
QUESTION
Dear Midwife,
I am now reaching my third week after my LMP. I went and got my blood checked for hCG and it was 2. Your site says that you start developing this hormone when the egg implants into the uterus. But further on your website it states that if your hCG is less than 5 you are not pregnant. Can you please explain this to me? Can the reason be that I'm only at 2 is that the egg just implanted itself or is this hormone present in a woman's body at all times, whether pregnant or not?
ANSWER
The hormone is present all the time in many women, especially those who are overweight.
-- Cynthia, CNM
Cynthia Flynn
Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.
