Pregnancy test
Am I pregnant? -> The only way to know for sure that you are pregnant is to take a pregnancy test.
You can take a pregnancy test when you have missed your period.
Read the instructions on the pregnancy test carefully.
A test can give a false result even if you perform the test correctly.
Ultrasound
Depending on where you live in the world, the routines for when and how often you do an ultrasound during pregnancy vary.
In Sweden, the first, and often only, ultrasound is usually done around the 18th week.
What you can see with an ultrasound:
- Before week 6: it is not possible to confirm if you are pregnant with an ultrasound
- Week 6: a doctor may choose to perform an ultrasound if there is reason to suspect that the fetus may be growing outside the uterus (called an ectopic pregnancy) and to determine how far along the pregnancy is
- Week 8: you can hear the heartbeat
- Week 12: the risk of miscarriage decreases
- Week 18: it is possible to determine the gender of the fetus with fairly certain accuracy
Even if you confirm with an ultrasound that you are pregnant, the pregnancy can end for natural reasons from one minute to the next. For that reason, many women choose not to have an ultrasound before the 12th week.
Counting weeks
Pregnancy is counted from the first day of the last period.
Sometimes, women with irregular periods are unable to state when that date was. The start of the pregnancy can later be estimated through ultrasound, but can also be calculated from the conception date.
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