Exact definition of gestation: methods

Couples planning to have a baby, as well as those who are protected from unwanted pregnancy, are interested in how soon it is possible to learn about conception and what methods for this exist. Modern methods make revealing the fact of pregnancy possible before the delay of menstruation, that is, a few days after fertilization.

Once a woman has a suspicion that the egg in the current cycle could be fertilized (there was an unprotected sexual intercourse, a violation of the integrity of the condom, another tablet of a blister with hormonal contraceptives was forgotten), the first thing you can do is buy a home pregnancy test. The effect of such tests, both conventional and inkjet, with litmus strips and electronic scoreboard, is based on the capture of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin ). In a healthy woman, the presence of hCG in the urine means having a pregnancy.

One of the methods of accurate diagnosis is the determination of pregnancy by blood. This method is based on determining the presence of beta-hCG in a woman's blood. The fact that first the hormone of pregnancy appears in the blood, and only after 10 days - 2 weeks after conception begins to excrete in the urine. Therefore, the detection of pregnancy by a blood test for beta-hCG is a more reliable method than a home test.

After the woman has been diagnosed correctly, it is necessary to determine the gestational age to predict the PDR (the expected date of birth). Each week in early terms corresponds to a certain value of the hormone level of hCG. In the first 2 months, determining the length of pregnancy by the number of beta-hCG in the blood is one of the most accurate methods. For the diagnosis of progressive or frozen pregnancy, this hormone can become a decisive factor: if its number increases with the desired dynamics, the fetus is alive and pregnancy develops.

In 1953, the English doctor Marshal discovered the value of the internal temperature of the body for the diagnosis of processes occurring in the body. Since then, one way to detect the presence of the fetus in the uterus has been measuring the temperature in the rectum, in the vagina or in the mouth. Determining pregnancy at basal temperature requires painstaking records, in addition, you need to carefully choose the moment of measurement. It is necessary to measure the basal temperature immediately after sleep, the duration of which was not less than 3-5 hours. During this time, external factors - the atmosphere in the room, nervous excitement, food and liquids - cease to affect the internal temperature of the body. The thermometer is placed in advance at the bed, the measurement lasts about five minutes. Records should be done daily, at about the same time; Correctly they can only be interpreted by an obstetrician-gynecologist.

The method is based on the fact that during pregnancy a high temperature phase occurs. This is due to the action of the hormone progesterone. The subtle moment is a very small difference between "high" and "low" basal temperature, they differ only by 0.4-0.8 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the quality of measurements and the time of sleep is crucial: every extra hour spent in bed increases BT.

To determine whether a woman is pregnant, an experienced obstetrician-gynecologist in a women's consultation (or private clinic) can easily be able to. When viewed in mirrors and palpation, there is an increase in the size of the uterus, and the density of this organ changes.

But the most informative for diagnosing this condition is ultrasound. Determining the duration of pregnancy by ultrasound is the most common. An experienced USDG doctor in terms of the size of the fetal egg and the degree of visualization of the embryo will tell exactly what date the picture corresponds to. At 4-6 weeks, most likely, only the zygote in the uterus cavity will be visible; But from the 7th week of pregnancy the embryo is visualized and one can hear his heartbeat.

To determine the length of pregnancy using ultrasound was informative, and the PDR is established correctly, it is important to appear at the primary reception to the gynecologist as soon as possible. Ultrasound is up to 14 weeks. It is these decreed terms that are prescribed in the calendar of perinatal screening approved by the Ministry of Health.

The starting point, that is, the beginning of obstetric pregnancy is the first day of the last menstruation. Thus, the obstetric pregnancy, according to which it lasts 38-42 weeks, is longer than the actual one. This is explained by the inability to establish the exact day and hour of conception.