Pregnancy Tests 101 

Before we tackle the issue of how alcohol can affect a pregnancy test, let’s set up a foundational understanding of how pregnancy tests work.

There are two types of pregnancy tests:

• Blood Test – Administered only in a doctor’s office or at a laboratory with your doctor’s order, these tests require a vial of blood to be drawn from your arm by a technician. 
• Urine Test – Administered at home, at a doctor’s office, or at a laboratory, these tests can be taken by yourself by holding a test strip into your urine stream or collecting a urine sample in a small cup.

In either case, these tests are both detecting the presence or absence of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your body. 

What is hCG, and why does it indicate pregnancy?

The “Pregnancy Hormone” 

Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), commonly called the pregnancy hormone, is produced solely by cells within the placenta. This means hCG only occurs during pregnancy.

Within the maternal body, hCG performs many important functions, including:

• Promoting the production of progesterone (say that five times fast) 
• Promoting the formation of blood cells in the uterine lining
• Blocking immune action on placental cells
• Stimulating uterine growth (alongside fetal growth)
• Suppressing contractions
• Supporting growth and differentiation of the umbilical cord
• Stimulating the growth of fetal organs

Rather than unpack all that biology, for the purpose of understanding how pregnancy tests work, let’s just focus on how hCG levels change during the first stages of pregnancy.

Levels of hCG 

Considering the body’s hCG levels, you might wonder: how soon will a pregnancy test read positive? After an egg has been fertilized and attaches to the uterine wall, the surrounding cells will begin to produce hCG. Levels of hCG will double every 2 to 3 days during early pregnancy, becoming detectable as early as 7 to 8 days after ovulation (with a test that’s sensitive enough). 

This means that even before a missed period, a test may be able to tell you if you’re pregnant.

Though at-home tests only indicate a positive or negative result (based on hCG levels), some tests administered professionally can tell you the exact level of hCG present in your body.

• Below 5 mIU/mL – Considered negative for pregnancy.
• Above 25 mIU/mL – Considered positive for pregnancy.
• Between 6 and 24 mIU/mL – Considered a grey area that requires retesting.

The level of hCG in your body will peak somewhere as high as 200,000 mIU/mL between weeks 8 to 12 of pregnancy, then decline and remain at a steady, lower level for the remainder of your pregnancy. 

Pregnancy Test-Taking Basics 

Most at-home urine pregnancy tests require you to soak an indicator stick with your urine. This means it’s up to you to collect the cleanest sample possible. 

Here are some tips to help you catch a quality sample and interpret it correctly:

• Start by checking the home pregnancy test’s expiration date. If it’s been collecting dust under your sink for a while, it may be time to run to the pharmacy and grab a freshie. 
• Read the directions included in your pregnancy test kit completely and thoroughly before taking the test.
• Wash your hands before taking the test.
• Consider urinating in a cup and dipping the stick for the correct amount of time. Even if your test is meant for a mid-stream collection, a sample from a cup is acceptable and, generally, reduces errors.
• Know the correct amount of time to expose the test strip to your urine. Don’t deviate from the recommended time by either too much or too little. 
• Read the results after the correct amount of time has passed. 
• Take the test first thing in the morning, as this is when your hCG levels are their least diluted.

Now, circling back to alcohol intake. While drinking alcohol can’t directly impact the hCG levels of a pregnant woman, it can indirectly impact the test results. How?

Simply put, it’s not easy to follow at-home pregnancy testing protocols when you’ve been drinking.

Aside from this, alcohol can also potentially dilute your hCG levels (although not lower them), which can cause a “grey area” test result. Let’s dive more into alcohol’s indirect effects on pregnancy tests, below.

Alcohol, Your Body, and Your Pregnancy Test 

Some of the ways alcohol consumption can indirectly affect your pregnancy tests result are by:

• Impairing your judgment, making you less likely to follow directions or estimate the passage of time correctly.
• Impairing your balance, making you less likely to collect a quality sample of urine.
• Causing thirst or gastrointestinal irritation, making you more likely to overhydrate. Overhydration can dilute your urine and hCG levels, and potentially change a “you’re pregnant” result of over 25 mIU/L to a “grey area” result of between 6 to 24 mIU/mL. 

For these reasons, if you’re tipsy or hungover when you test, you should retake a pregnancy test in a day or two for a more accurate result. This will allow you to confirm any result you received while under the influence of alcohol.

What other factors can impact a pregnancy test? 

While pregnancy tests are 99% accurate when taken correctly, a false positive or negative result is not impossible, as other factors can have an impact on your results.

Factors beyond user error that might give you an inaccurate reading are:

• Overhydration – As mentioned above, levels of hCG are at their lowest when you first become pregnant. If you happen to take a pregnancy test while your level is at this lowest point and after diluting your urine with copious amounts of water (or any other liquid), you may get a false negative test. Testing again with first-morning urine in a day or two will give you a more accurate reading.
• Fertility Medicine – Any medicine containing hCG can result in a false positive pregnancy test. If you’re being treated for infertility, check with your doctor about the possibility of your treatment affecting a pregnancy test. The most common fertility medicines that will cause a false positive result are:
  • Pregnyl
  • Profasi
  • Novarel
  • Ovidrel
• Other Medications – Other medications can also cause a false positive result. These include:
  • Progestin-only birth control pills
  • Anti-anxiety medications, such as prochlorperazine and trifluoperazine
  • Promethazine (a sedative used before and after surgery, and an antihistamine)
  • Carbamazepine (used to treat epilepsy, facial nerve pain, and bipolar disorder)
  • Antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia, such as: 
    • Perphenazine
    • Prochlorperazine
    • Chlorpromazine
    • Trifluoperazine
    • Thioridazine
    • Thiothixene
  • Anti-nausea drugs, including:
    • Prochlorperazine
    • Perphenazine
    • Chlorpromazine

A Note About Drinking Alcohol During Pregnancy

When you receive a positive pregnancy test result, you might consider the role that alcohol will play until your baby is born (and beyond, if you intend to breastfeed). This is because alcohol passes from your blood through the placenta to your baby. 

While the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and some doctors discourage drinking alcohol during pregnancy, some doctors do allow for a drink or two per week, as research isn’t conclusive on the impact of drinking on a fetus. 

However, across the board, heavy, binge drinking (i.e. having 8 or more drinks per week) and alcohol abuse during pregnancy is not advised for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby, as it increases the risk of birth defects and developmental issues. 

Next, it’s important to understand how diet can affect a pregnancy. Learn how to improve egg quality before pregnancy with a fertility diet or how to prepare for a baby by learning when to start taking prenatal vitamins. Beyond cutting out alcohol, there are so many opportunities to give your baby the healthy pregnancy you both deserve. 

Get Results You Can Trust with SneakPeek 

If you’ve received a positive pregnancy test result—congratulations, Mama! Now, it’s time to consider follow-up tests to help you prepare for the arrival of your baby. 

Start with the SneakPeek At-Home Early Gender Blood Test—the only at-home fetal sex test that can tell you whether you’re having a little boy or a little girl as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy! That’s months before a traditional 20-week anatomy ultrasound can tell you (and why our test is trusted by over 1 million moms and top obstetricians). Plus, our results are clinically-proven over 99% accurate¹. 

With science-backed, privacy-protected results you can trust, there’s no reason not to choose SneakPeek Test. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.