Symptoms of Low hCG Levels in Pregnancy

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hGC) is a biochemical hormone, which is primarily produced by some special cells of the waman body. The hormone is located in uterine placenta and is produced during pregnancy.

This hormone helps produces other important biochemical substances that also help maintain the pregnancy. Lack of optimum level of this hormone can cause many symptoms. In this article, I’m going to talk about the symptoms of low level of hGC (source).

What are the symptoms of low hCG levels in pregnancy?

Low levels of hGC can be caused by health conditions. However, sometimes the low levels of hGC doesn’t always indicate there is a problem. Common health related conditions that cause low levels of hGC include:

1. Blighted ovum
2. Miscarriage
3. Ectopic Pregnancy
4. Miscarriage
5. Miscalculated Gestational Age

The best way to check whether you have low or high levels of hGC is to consult your health provider for test. However, some several scientific findings have indicated many symptoms.

According to this study, high blood pressure condition during pregnancy known as preeclampsia and preterm delivery were associated with high or low levels of hGC.

Additionally, low levels of hGC caused by miscarriage can cause abdominal pain, discharge of white or pink mucus, viginal bleeding, passing tissue or clot, and cessation of pregnancy symptoms.

Calculate your hGC levels here.

Standard hCG Levels by Pregnancy Week

1. 3 weeks: 5–50 mIU/mL
2. 4 weeks: 5–426 mIU/mL
3. 5 weeks: 18–7,340 mIU/mL
4. 6 weeks: 1,080–56,500 mIU/mL
5. 7–8 weeks: 7,650–229,000 mIU/mL
6. 9–12 weeks: 25,700–288,000 mIU/mL
7. 13–16 weeks: 13,300–254,000 mIU/mL
8. 17–24 weeks: 4,060–165,400 mIU/mL
9. 25–40 weeks: 3,640–117,000 mIU/mL

Conclusion

Low hCG levels on their own aren’t necessarily a cause for concern. Various factors influence these levels, and the normal range can differ greatly from one woman to another. If you’re worried, your doctor can monitor your hCG levels. Even if the levels stay low, there’s nothing you can do to change that. It’s also important to understand that low hCG isn’t something you’ve caused.

If low hCG levels are related to a pregnancy loss, it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term in the future. If you lose a fallopian tube due to an ectopic pregnancy, your fertility usually remains intact as long as your other tube is healthy. And if it’s not, reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization (IVF) can still offer a path to a successful pregnancy.

Reference

1. Betz D, Fane K. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. [Updated 2023 Aug 14]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532950/
2. Skogler, J., Moberg, T., Tancredi, L., Styrmisdóttir, L., Hedayati, E., et al. (2023). Association between human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels and adverse pregnancy outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210778923003719
   

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