• HCG stands for Human chorionic gonadotropin
• It is a pregnancy hormone usually produced by the placenta
• HCG levels in pregnancy are used to understand the progress of your pregnancy

HCG stands for Human chorionic gonadotropin. It is a hormone produced by the structure inside your uterus (the placenta) that connects to your baby and provides delivery of oxygen and nutrition. 

The placenta begins to produce hcg hormone soon after conception. However, it takes nearly 2 weeks for your HCG levels to become high enough to be detected in pregnancy.

Normal hcg levels change as per the week of pregnancy. The average hcg levels are:

3 weeks: 6 – 70 IU/L

4 weeks: 10 – 750 IU/L

5 weeks: 200 – 7,100 IU/L

6 weeks: 160 – 32,000 IU/L

7 weeks: 3,700 – 160,000 IU/L

8 weeks: 32,000 – 150,000 IU/L

9 weeks: 64,000 – 150,000 IU/L

10 weeks: 47,000 – 190,000 IU/L

12 weeks: 28,000 – 210,000 IU/L

14 weeks: 14,000 – 63,000 IU/L

15 weeks: 12,000 – 71,000 IU/L

16 weeks: 9,000 – 56,000 IU/L

16 – 29 weeks (second trimester): 1,400 – 53,000 IUL

29 – 41 weeks (third trimester): 940 – 60,000 IU/L

HCG levels in pregnancy can provide valuable information to your obstetrician about your and your baby’s health.

If the HCG levels are higher, it implies that you may have multiple pregnancies or abnormal growth in your uterus.

Low levels of HCG imply an increased risk of loss of pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy and HCG levels

HCG levels can also offer valuable information about the risk of an ectopic pregnancy. If you have an ectopic pregnancy, your HCG levels rise more slowly than the expected rate.