How soon can pregnancy be detected ?
When do the first signs of pregnancy appear?
Listening to your body also means noticing when there is a real change. Some women are able to quickly tell if they are pregnant. What are the first signs? When do they appear? Answers from Dr. Chloé Haddad-Halimi.
What are the symptoms of a pregnant woman?
Early pregnancy: what are the very first signs that don’t lie?
Each early pregnancy is different, so the symptoms vary from woman to woman. " The first symptoms of pregnancy vary from one woman to another. There are women who have no symptoms and yet have a pregnancy that is progressing normally, so it is not at all mandatory," explains Dr. Chloé Haddad-Halimi .
These signs can be, among others, of digestive or hormonal origin . " There can be nausea, bloating, digestive discomfort due to hormonal change and variation, there can be a change in odors with some that bother them a lot, as well as a metallic taste in the mouth , sensitivity in the chest, irritability, mood swings or even great fatigue" lists Dr. Haddad.
Increased levels of progesterone and estrogen can cause breasts to become engorged with blood, swollen and enlarged.
Increased estrogen secretion also relaxes smooth muscles, leading to relaxation in the urethra and a very regular and urgent urge to urinate, often causing nighttime awakenings .
Early signs of pregnancy before period. When do you feel the first symptoms?
The first signs of pregnancy can appear as early as the second week after intercourse. The fertilized egg , called a blastocyst, travels down the fallopian tubes, down to the uterus and implants itself there. Sometimes, the appearance of the first symptoms of pregnancy coincides with the implantation of the fertilized egg, this occurs before a missed period , which indicates a possible pregnancy.
Some women, who have been pregnant several times, know how to detect the first signs of pregnancy before the first day of their missed menstrual cycle. Either by feeling certain parts of their body or by recognizing symptoms, such as breast swelling.
Being pregnant: are pregnancy signs always reliable?
Sometimes these symptoms occur for other reasons, which can be frustrating for a woman trying to conceive. “ Getting pregnant is a complex, multifactorial process,” says Dr. Haddad.
It happens that a woman wants to have a child so much that her psyche artificially creates false signs of pregnancy.
Conversely, in some cases, young women continue to have "birthday periods" that are actually false periods , and yet they are indeed pregnant.
The best way to know if you are pregnant is to first take a pregnancy test in good time.
In fact, when it is done too early, it can give a "false negative", because the hormone level is not yet high enough to be detected. It is therefore preferable to wait a few days after the date of the period to do one, preferably in the morning when waking up, since this is the time when the urine is most concentrated in beta-HCG (Chorionic Gonadotropic Hormone), the increase of which indicates pregnancy.
If it does not seem reliable enough, a blood test will be needed to find out if there is a significant increase in the beta-HCG level.
An appointment with the gynecologist can also confirm the pregnancy with a vaginal examination performed on the mother-to-be and by observing the cervix. It will be soft and larger if the woman is actually pregnant.
The next step will be the ultrasound scan, which should be scheduled at least two weeks after a missed period, that is, after one month of pregnancy.
If the tests come back negative, these signs could be telltale:
- hormonal disorders due to an ovarian cyst or a disorder of the adrenal gland which can cause interruption of the menstrual cycle or even cause breast tenderness,
- thyroid dysfunction which can cause fatigue, weight gain, constipation,
- liver and pancreas dysfunction causing nausea
When do the first signs of pregnancy appear while on the pill?
Most often, the pill protects against a possible pregnancy. " There is little risk that a woman on the pill will become pregnant, if she takes her treatment diligently. However, even with the safest methods of contraception, there is always at least a 0.1% probability that the method will not work. To know the reliability of a method of contraception, there is the Pearl index which indicates the failure rate when it is used optimally," explains Dr. Chloé Haddad-Halimi.
According to this Pearl index, the most reliable means of contraception with a very low failure rate would be the contraceptive implant (0.05%), the hormonal IUD (0.10%), the contraceptive injection (0.30%) and the contraceptive pill (0.30%).
