Deciphering Pregnancy HCG Levels: What’s Normal?

If you’re an expecting mom, chances are you’re already familiar with hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. It’s the hormone best known for triggering that “+” sign you saw on your home pregnancy test (plus the elated celebrations that follow suit).

But after the fanfare, this small, mighty hormone has a big role to play. After the first trimester, once normal levels have reached their peak, hCG works quietly behind the scenes until your second trimester to support healthy pregnancy and your baby’s growth.

With that knowledge, maintaining an optimal hCG level is an important piece of the prenatal health puzzle—and learning to decode what “low hCG level” and “high” pregnant hCG levels mean can be just as important. Let’s take a closer look at this crucial hormone throughout a pregnancy cycle and how it bears on those months you’re preparing for your little one’s arrival.

When can hCG be detected?

Your hCG journey starts around 11 days after conception when your body senses an egg has been fertilized and implanted. In some cases, a low hCG level can be detected just 8 days post-ovulation (DPO).

At this stage, your little embryo produces most of the hCG in your body. hCG is also disbursed in small amounts by:

• The pituitary gland
• The colon
• The liver

In early pregnancy, hCG levels typically double every 2 to 3 days. A few weeks along, your growing placenta will take over high-volume hCG production, though your hCG level should continue to compound up until the eighth or tenth week.

Pregnant hCG Levels Timeline, Week by Week

In a typical pregnancy, hCG levels tend to take a nosedive between your ninth and 13th week. In general, a healthy pattern should fall somewhere along the following timeline:

• Week 3 – 5 to 50 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 4 – 5 to 426 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 5 – 18 to 7,340 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 6 – 1,080 to 56,500 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 7 to 8 – 7,650 to 229,000 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 9 to 12 – 25,700 to 288,000 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 13 to 16 – 13,300 to 254,000 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 17 to 24 – 4,060 to 165,400 mIU/mL of hCG
• Week 34 to 40 – 3,640 to 117,000 mIU/mL of hCG

While it can be tempting to get caught up in numbers, it’s important to remember that the range of what’s considered “normal” hCG levels can be highly variable. Healthcare providers tend to gauge how well your pregnancy is developing based on how hCG levels are acting (their pattern), as opposed to whether they’ve reached a desired benchmark.

What does hCG do?

hCG levels’ distribution during early pregnancy is a telling indicator of how crucial the hormone is in those early weeks and months. In the weeks following fertilization, hCG is responsible for:

• Padding the uterus – hCG helps ensure the uterine lining stays nourished, creating a cozy habitat for your growing embryo. It also keeps your body from shedding the uterine lining (in other words, it helps prevent menstruation).
• Cueing progesterone production – Pregnancy hormones operate in a feedback system. When hCG levels rise, this tells your body to produce progesterone consistently. Specifically, hCG “communicates” with the shell of the corpus luteum, which once encased your now-fertilized egg.
• Cueing estrogen production – hCG also sends your body the signal to produce estrogen in preparation for the nine months ahead. The placenta produces most of your estrogen during pregnancy.

While normal hCG levels decline after their ten-week peak, some hCG continues to be produced until the end of the second trimester. Growing research on hCG suggests this hormone plays a vital supporting role in processes like:

• Angiogenesis, a crucial process that helps your body nearly double its blood volume to support your growing baby.
• Immunosuppression, which lets your body know your baby belongs there (aka “not an invader!”).

hCG is also involved in supporting fetal organ growth and developing your baby’s central nervous system, chiefly the brain and brain stem. If there’s any key takeaway from the growing body of research on hCG, it’s that this versatile hormone is vital for not just early pregnancy but total fetal and maternal health.

What can low hCG levels mean?

Low levels of hCG in the early first trimester is a marker of concern for healthcare providers, as it could indicate a higher risk of:

• Miscarriage – If a healthcare provider finds irregular or lower-than-average hCG levels during your first prenatal check-ups, they may let you know you’re at a higher risk of pregnancy loss. In this case, they may request extra labs, bloodwork, and ultrasounds to ensure your baby is developing on track.
• Ectopic pregnancy – In most cases, pregnancies can be “visualized” on an ultrasound at an hCG threshold of 1,500 mIU/mL. If your levels reach this benchmark but a healthcare provider cannot see a baby in your uterus, you may be at risk of ectopic pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancies are those in which an egg embeds outside of the uterus. While rare, affecting an estimated 1% to 2% of pregnant women, these pregnancies are critical conditions that require emergency surgery to remove.

What can high hCG levels mean?

The most likely explanation for high hCG levels is simple (in theory, if not in practice): You’re carrying twins or multiples. (And if that’s the case for you, congratulations!).

While it’s uncommon to exhibit high hCG levels, several health concerns are correlated:

• Molar pregnancy – Molar pregnancies are abnormal growths that take root in the placenta, triggering the production of exaggerated amounts of hCG.
• Uterine tumors – Very rarely, hCG can be produced by abnormal masses of tissue that grow in the uterus. These may be cancerous or benign, and they’re often attended by bleeding, as well as pelvic and abdominal pain.

Your healthcare provider should inform you of higher-than-average hCG levels during a prenatal check-up or hCG pregnancy test. If they’ve ruled out a dual or multiple pregnancy, you’ll be able to work with them regarding options for care.

3 Ways to Support hCG Levels Throughout Pregnancy

Early pregnancy can be a tender time, particularly if you’ve been wanting to get pregnant for a while. While it’s not necessary to track every peak and valley of your hCG levels, understanding how to support their bell curve is an important part of beginning a healthy pregnancy journey.

Prioritize Your Prenatal Appointments

Maintaining a regular schedule of prenatal visits with your healthcare provider is the single best thing you can do to ensure healthy hCG levels. Your care team will be able to:

• Measure your hCG levels, and keep a thorough record of how or whether they’re fluctuating through an hCG test.
• Catch signs of high or low hCG levels early, which can help to lower your risk of pregnancy loss
• Detect signs of complications (e.g. ectopic pregnancy) early, which can have life-saving results if you’re affected.

Moreover, your prenatal care team should be familiar with your medical history and current health status. These can be important indicators of your well-being during pregnancy, enabling you to make informed choices that can have a decisive impact on your baby’s development.

Eliminate Tobacco, Vapes, and Alcohol

Alcohol, tobacco, and (their more modern cousin) vapes can be noxious to overall fetal health. Both alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy are associated with:

• Higher risks of miscarriage
• Low birth weight
• Preterm birth
• Developmental complications

While it’s not completely clear how these toxins affect hCG levels, it’s safer to leave them for after your baby is born if you use them.

Focus on Building Holistic Well-Being

Generally speaking, the healthier and less stressed your body is, the healthier a pregnancy you can look forward to. One way to support stable hCG levels is to focus on what you can control—factors that impact your physical and emotional well-being, such as:

• Nutrition – Folate, calcium, and vitamin D are some of the most essential nutrients to fill your plate with throughout pregnancy. Prenatal vitamins can also help kick-start your nutritional profile in early pregnancy.
• Movement – Staying active daily can be tremendously supportive of endocrinal and overall health. And you don’t need to kill it at the gym daily; gentle yoga or a brisk 30-minute walk can be just as supportive for your hormonal health.

It’s normal to worry about how your baby is developing early on, but when you’re frequently anxious, your baby may feel it too.

If stress—about hCG levels or other matters—has been interfering with your well-being, it might be worth consulting with a healthcare provider. They can help you find outlets to manage your emotions to make your journey to parenthood as enjoyable as possible.

Navigate the Peaks and Valleys of Pregnancy with SneakPeek

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With the trust of 1 million moms behind it, SneakPeek is the #1 OBGYN-recommended at-home early gender test. Discover what (and who) is waiting for you on the other side of pregnancy by visiting SneakPeek today.

Sources:

1. Cleveland Clinic. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22489-human-chorionic-gonadotropin
2. American Family Physician. Ectopic Pregnancy: Diagnosis and Management. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2020/0515/p599.html
3. National Institute of Health. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532950/
4. Very Well Family. Why hCG Doubling Times Are Important in Early Pregnancy. https://www.verywellfamily.com/normal-hcg-doubling-times-in-early-pregnancy-2371282
5. National Library of Medicine. Physiology, Chorionic Gonadotropin. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556118/
6. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Hormones During Pregnancy. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/staying-healthy-during-pregnancy/hormones-during-pregnancy
7. National Library of Medicine. Alcohol Use in Pregnancy and Miscarriage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31194258/
8. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking During Pregnancy. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/pregnancy/index.htm
9. Mayo Clinic. Pregnancy diet: Focus on these essential nutrients. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-nutrition/art-20045082
10. National Institutes of Health. Will stress during pregnancy affect my baby? https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preconceptioncare/conditioninfo/stress