Alternatives to HPTs, blood tests & ultrasounds to confirm a possible pregnancy

[mummame]

if you dont want to have a blood test, or an ultrasound or an internal there is not much more they can do, unless like you said you wait until 13-15 weeks to try and find the hb on a doppler, or you wait 8 months and see if a baby pops out. A simple blood test would be highly unlikely to cause a miscarriage, and an external ultrasound again would be highly unlikely to cause a miscarriage...even an amniocentsis only carries a miscarriage risk of 0.5%. If you really do think you are pregnant you are better off going to talk to your GP or obstetrician who can give you some answers. Yes there are people around that dont get positive HPT's and late HPT's but they usually go in and have a beta done to confirm pregancy

[Pegasus]

if you dont want to have a blood test, or an ultrasound or an internal there is not much more they can do, unless like you said you wait until 13-15 weeks to try and find the hb on a doppler, or you wait 8 months and see if a baby pops out. A simple blood test would be highly unlikely to cause a miscarriage, and an external ultrasound again would be highly unlikely to cause a miscarriage...even an amniocentsis only carries a miscarriage risk of 0.5%. If you really do think you are pregnant you are better off going to talk to your GP or obstetrician who can give you some answers. Yes there are people around that dont get positive HPT's and late HPT's but they usually go in and have a beta done to confirm pregancy

Hi Mummame, thanks for replying! Yes, I might have to wait longer to try the doppler heart beat method.

As for ultrasounds, I read that they potentially carry risks
As for seeing an obstetrician, I'd like to bypass that option and only see a midwife/ doula. I'm planning a natural birth as I'm into natural health.

Re the blood test, it was too much of coincidence to rule out it induced a miscarriage, especially since I took it far too early (maybe week 3-6?), thinking also it could not induce a miscarriage (but I did start to bleed the afternoon I took the blood test - so the potential correlation of a cause-effect is there, also, I've read on other forums that women have miscarried on the day they took an ultrasound that confirmed their just pregnancy. So I think it is possible that any unnatural medical intervention can cause a miscarriage, that's why it's not traditionally medically advisable to take a blood test if there are no compelling medical reasons for it. That's why I'm so upset about taking the blood test & feel that the doctor perhaps was not properly informed/ educated of the possible risk of miscarriage risks so early in a pregnancy. In hindsight, the doctor should have told me to go home and wait longer i.e. wait until two missed periods etc. I am now much better informed, and hope doctors in future will also understand the hazards of unecessary medical intervention. But still, I'm no expert and eager to be better educated on such matters by others such yourself


Cheers

[ladybirdflies]

I guess all you can do is wait... like L&B said back in the ole days women waited for two missed periods before they started any form of testing and even then it was minimal. If you don't like ultrasounds you will not like dopplers, they work exactly the same as ultrasounds (sound waves) look up doppler danger on FB. I guess if you are happy to not have ANY intervention you should be happy to just wait it out...

ps-Dr's can only 'intervene' if you go to them. When you turn up in a Dr's office they naturally want to help you, their way of helping people is tests etc. I think you can't blame them, the patient has as much responsibility to ask questions and understand what is going on before they say yes to what the Dr recommends. (As a person who uses homoeopathics and natural remedies I practise the above mentioned)

[Pegasus]

I guess all you can do is wait... like L&B said back in the ole days women waited for two missed periods before they started any form of testing and even then it was minimal. If you don't like ultrasounds you will not like dopplers, they work exactly the same as ultrasounds (sound waves) look up doppler danger on FB. I guess if you are happy to not have ANY intervention you should be happy to just wait it out...

ps-Dr's can only 'intervene' if you go to them. When you turn up in a Dr's office they naturally want to help you, their way of helping people is tests etc. I think you can't blame them, the patient has as much responsibility to ask questions and understand what is going on before they say yes to what the Dr recommends. (As a person who uses homoeopathics and natural remedies I practise the above mentioned)

Hi Ladybirdflies, thanks for your important insight. Gee whizz, I never knew that dopplers carried risks too!! Are there any pregnancy test methods that don't carry risk?? For example, can the doctor use just a regular stethoscope? Can that hear the baby's heartbeat (or just my gas?lol). I don't know what to do. Guess I'll keep using the HPTs and see if my belly starts to grow significantly.

Otherwise, I was thinking of trying this unconventional method. Using the "Intelligender". Apparently, it has some success on determining whether you are having a boy or girl. I'm wondering whether it only gives a 'reading'/ changes colour if you're pregnant?

Re blaming the doctor for the 'miscarriage', I don't blame the doctor per se for giving me a blood test, but I do believe that it was remiss of the doctor to give me a blood test when I had no compelling medical reason to do so apart from verifying a potential pregnancy. It was unnecessary and ill-advised. The doctor was the "professional". But of course, I know they were only trying to be helpful and obviously was not cognisant/ educated of the potential risks of early blood tests (i.e. carried out at an early stage of pregnancy). So, no, I don't blame the doctor. But as I see it, I lost my baby. So it was a major error. But it was more my error. I totally blame myself for seeking a blood test. It was up to me to protect my baby, even from well-intentioned medical professionals. As a result, I'm so weary now of all non-essential medical interventions. (And if it wasn't for my pregnancy symptoms and having no positive HPT results after 7 weeks, I wouldn't be divulging the issue now, as I've moved on & learned from that heartbreaking experience. Hopefully, the doctor has too so no other women is subjected to a potential miscarriage via an unnecessary blood test). Then of course, it could have been a chemical pregnancy as others suggest. And then there's the fact that there will always be a risk in everything we do - that's life! But we can minimize risks and should take the less risky option when we can (especially in relation to a pregnancy).

In any case, the experience taught me to be extra careful, more accountable & read widely on pregnancy related issues. It's also reaffirmed my wish for a natural birth with lest intervention/ no intervention. And I do appreciate greatly learning more about pregnancy from you and others on this forum. Thanks for replying Ladybirdflies

Cheers