What Is a Chemical Pregnancy?

3. Blood Tests

Blood tests are more reliable than urine tests, but they have to be performed in a doctor's office. There are two types: qualitative blood tests detect the presence of hCG and give a simple positive or negative result, and quantitative tests measure the amount of hCG in the blood. One issue with getting a blood test at a doctor's office is that the first prenatal visit is not until about the eighth week of pregnancy, weeks after the end of a chemical pregnancy. In this case, qualitative blood test results will show much lower hCG levels than expected in a healthy pregnancy.