How to find out you pregnant

First signs of pregnancy | Ready Steady Baby!

Chances are you already know you’re pregnant. Getting pregnant might have been emotionally and physically hard, and taken a long or unexpectedly short time. Everyone reacts differently.

Missed period

The first sign of pregnancy is usually missing a period, about 2 weeks after you’ve conceived. This isn't always reliable and if your periods aren’t regular you might not notice you’ve missed one.

Some women have a bit of bleeding as the egg embeds. Many women also experience tender breasts. This may be around the time they would have expected a period and can be confusing.

Home pregnancy test

A home pregnancy test is a reliable way of checking to see if you’re pregnant. You can do a test on the first day your period's due.

The test measures a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your urine. For the result to be positive, your body must be making enough for the test to pick it up, usually about 2 weeks after you conceive.

You can get a free pregnancy test, support and advice at a sexual health clinic.

Find a sexual health clinic in your area

Assisted conception

If you’ve had assisted conception (such as IVF), you need to wait about 2 weeks after the transfer of an embryo before doing a pregnancy test.

When you find out you’re pregnant, you’ll have an ultrasound scan. From then on, you’ll have the same care as other pregnant women.

Dating your pregnancy

The start of your pregnancy's dated from the first day of your last actual period, although you probably conceived about 2 weeks after that. That means by the time you miss a period you could technically be 4 weeks pregnant if you have a 28-day cycle. But every woman's different.

Pregnancy usually lasts between 38 and 42 weeks. Your due date will be estimated when you attend your first ultrasound scan appointment. Most babies are born in the 2 weeks before or after this date.

When you know you're pregnant

As soon as you know you’re pregnant:

• phone your GP practice and ask how to make an appointment with a midwife
• stop drinking alcohol as there's no safe amount to drink
• make sure you eat a healthy diet and start taking folic acid
• be active every day and drink plenty of water to prevent constipation
• stop smoking and don’t take drugs
• you must stop dieting as you must not go on a weight-loss diet in pregnancy
• tell your GP, midwife and obstetrician if you’ve had mental health issues before

Seeing your midwife early

Seeing a midwife as early in your pregnancy as possible gives you and your baby the best start. You'll be able to discuss how your lifestyle might impact on your baby and the choices you can make during pregnancy.

How you might be feeling

You might be feeling:

• overjoyed and excited
• have mixed emotions or not feel the way you expected

Maybe your pregnancy is a surprise and it’s taking a while to get used to the idea. Your partner can feel the same.

Talk about your feelings

Whatever your situation, it’s important to talk about how you’re feeling and make sure you’ve got support.

Your midwife's there for you, dads and partners too.

If you’ve got any worries or questions, the people involved in your care are happy to listen and help give you the support you need.

Your privacy

Sometimes young people worry about sharing their pregnancy with a professional.

Young people aged 13 and over have the same rights to medical confidentiality (privacy) as an adult and the same rights and responsibilities as all parents.

It’s important you're able to:

• access the care and support you need and are entitled to
• speak to an adult you trust so you can get the support you need during your pregnancy and once your baby's born

Your midwife can help you find out more about the support available from the NHS and other services.

Confidentiality

Your midwife or doctor won't tell anyone else about your pregnancy without your agreement if they believe:

• you fully understand the information and decisions involved
• there's no risk to your health or wellbeing

More about your right to confidentiality when using the NHS

Family Nurse Partnership

Most first-time young mums are eligible for support through the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP).

Specially trained FNP nurses:

• work with and support first-time young mothers during pregnancy and their child’s first 2 years
• can put you in touch with local young parent groups, where you can meet other young parents

The Scottish Government has more information about Family Nurse Partnership

Translations and alternative formats of this information are available from Public Health Scotland.

How far along am I? Four ways to figure out how pregnant you are

You’re itching to know when your little one will arrive. Here’s how to calculate how far you are in your pregnancy.

It’s a question you’ll hear over and over until you’re holding a baby in your arms: “When are you due?” Everyone wants to know that magic date, and you’re probably more than a little curious about how far along you are, too. Your due date may become a beacon (my belly will stop growing in three more weeks, right?) or a deadline (I better paint the nursery ASAP), but it’s important to remember that your “due date” will only ever be an estimate of the week you’ll give birth (the vast majority of women deliver between weeks 37 and 41).

That said, there’s one big reason why an accurate estimate is important: in case of complications. “If a woman goes into labour early, then we really want to know how far along she is, as best as we can tell,” says Carol Scurfield, medical director of the Women’s Health Clinic in Winnipeg. “A week can make a big difference as far as the health of the baby is concerned.”

Do your best to calculate your due date as soon as you discover you’re pregnant. Here’s how to do it.

By far, the most common and accurate way to figure out your estimated due date is to take the start date of your last normal period and add 280 days (40 weeks), which is the typical length of a pregnancy. “Make sure that the period you’re tracking was the same number of days as usual and the same amount of discomfort, meaning that it felt like a normal period,” says Scurfield. “Sometimes women bleed after they’re pregnant, but that bleeding is different from a period.”

The formula for calculating how far along you are (or number of weeks pregnant) is simply the number of days since the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP) divided by seven:

Days since start of LMP ÷ 7 = # of weeks pregnant

Wondering how to calculate your number of months pregnant?

Days since start of LMP ÷ 30 = # of months pregnant

“Before we understood the physiology of ovulation—and that women don’t ovulate until a couple of weeks after their period, so they really can’t get pregnant until that time—the only thing that primitive physicians and midwives knew was that from the first day of the last period, it was about 280 days before a woman gave birth,” says Scurfield. “All of the research and medical literature have been based on that formula being used.”

88 things nobody tells you about being pregnantIf you have a standard 28-day period, you will likely ovulate around day 14 and are most fertile around days 12, 13 and 14—when you had sex (or underwent a fertility treatment) to conceive. It takes about nine days after ovulation for implantation to occur, which brings you to around day 23. It takes a few days for your pregnancy hormone levels to be detectable by a pregnancy test, bringing you to around day 28. How far along you are in your pregnancy isn’t calculated from conception or implantation but from the first day of your last normal period. If you had your period four weeks ago, then ovulated and had sex two weeks ago to become pregnant, you’re currently four weeks pregnant.

If you haven’t been keeping track of your periods or have extremely irregular periods, you have to make your best guess for the first day of your last period and go for a dating ultrasound as early as six to seven weeks to get a better idea of your number of weeks pregnant.

A dating ultrasound, which measures the length of the fetus from crown to rump, is an accurate way to estimate your due date or how far along you are if completed within the first trimester (the first 13 weeks of pregnancy). “Most women have a pretty good idea of when their last period was, within a day or two,” says Scurfield. “If a woman has no idea, you’ll want to try to get her as early as you can. Once you get past 13 weeks, the variability of the growth is such that an ultrasound can be off by a week or so.”

Nope! You can rely on the due date suggested by your last menstrual period, but your healthcare provider may schedule one anyway. “Your doctor may do it for other reasons, but for figuring out dates, it’s really not necessary if she isn’t concerned and there’s nothing odd happening,” says Scurfield.

3. Calculate using a pregnancy test with weeks indicator

All pregnancy tests are designed to detect the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in urine, but some pricier tests offer a “weeks indicator” that promises to tell how far along you are. Unfortunately, these tests are pretty vague, stating only one to two weeks, two to three weeks or three-plus weeks pregnant. In addition, the tests measure from implantation, not from your LMP. A test might say that you’re one to two weeks pregnant but you’re actually four weeks pregnant, according to standard pregnancy calculations.

Historically, the first heartbeat and first movement are used to get a sense of how far along you are or the age of the fetus, but these forms of measurement are now considered outdated. “We don’t use them anymore because they’re so inaccurate,” says Scurfield. “They’ll give you a rough idea, within weeks, but nothing precise. ”

Just four percent. “The due date isan estimate,” says Scurfield. “There are all sorts of factors that go into when a woman delivers. It may have to do with the size of the fetus or the health of the mother. Some women will have one baby early and the next baby late. It’s nice to be able to predict and plan, but babies come when they’re ready.”

Start tracking your periods (including start date, end date and symptoms) before you get pregnant so that you can easily tell how far along you are. You can use a calendar or period tracker app, such as Period Calendar, Flo and Clue, all of which are free on iPhone and Android.

Then, if you get pregnant—whether it’s planned or a surprise—you’ll know the start of your last period and can accurately assess how far along you are. At that point, you can sign up for Today’s Parent’s free week-by-week pregnancy newsletter to learn about your baby’s development, how you’ll be feeling and what to expect.

Free pregnancy apps like The Bump, What to Expect and Pregnancy Tracker include pregnancy calendar calculators to estimate your due date, as well as functions to help track the size of your baby, anticipate pregnancy symptoms and plan for doctor’s appointments and other key dates (like finding out the sex of your baby if you wish to, usually around 18 to 20 weeks).

Read more:
The most frequently asked questions about fertility, answered
When is it safe to announce your pregnancy?

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How to determine pregnancy without a test

How to determine pregnancy without a test and what signs indirectly indicate that your beloved baby will be born soon? Of course, only a blood test can give a 100% guarantee, but the presence of certain signs may indicate its possible onset.

Classic signs of pregnancy

The most common early signs and symptoms may include

• Delayed menses. nine0011 Problems with the regularity of the menstrual cycle may be associated with hormonal imbalance in the body. But if the delay arose for the first time, and before that the cycle was as accurate as a clock, then it is likely that you are pregnant.
• Early toxicosis with severe nausea and vomiting - the most common sign of an interesting situation, but not every woman has.
• Pain in both breasts or enlargement. Nipples can become very sensitive and change color. Sometimes in the early stages, colostrum is released from them with slight pressure. nine0012
• Pain in the pelvic region, similar to menstruation. But this sign can also indicate such a serious pathology as an ectopic pregnancy.
• Increased amount of discharge from the genitals. This can usually be observed during ovulation. Normal discharge is clear and odorless. When a whitish tint or a curdled structure appears, thrush can also be assumed, which is a common problem for expectant mothers. But in this case, you can not do without treatment. During the period of bearing a child, it is necessary to protect your body as much as possible from any, even such a safe disease. nine0012
• Increased or vice versa reduced libido. Every woman experiences jumps in sexual desire in one direction or the other due to hormonal changes occurring in the body. Therefore, men should treat this with understanding, knowing that they have not become less loved, but these are just signs of pregnancy.
• Frequent urination, despite the fact that you do not drink more often and there are no inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system. A similar phenomenon is associated with a slight relaxation of the sphincter of the bladder due to hormonal processes. And with the growth of the uterus and, accordingly, with the increase in pressure on the bladder, going to the toilet will become even more frequent. nine0012