QuestionI am as of today 12 weeks postpartum. Yesterday I had an intense hunger that prompted me to buy a hpt, the results came up positive. Is it possible that I still have enough hormone in my urine from the birth of my new baby to have a false positive? We've been very careful, I am on birth control, but know that means almost nothing, we had a baby 5 yrs ago on birth control. Is there any other issues that could make this a false positive?
AnswerDear Teresa,
Typically, by 4-6 weeks after an uncomplicated delivery or pregnancy loss the hCG levels have returned to non-pregnant levels (<5 mIU/ml). And false positives are not near as common as false negatives. Errors in testing - not following the directions on the test exactly or letting the test sit too long before reading - can lead to false positives. Otherwise, drugs that contain hCG, such as fertility medications, are really the only causes for false positives.
I would suggest that you wait 5-7 days and re-test for confirmation OR go to your doctor's office and have them run a quantitative blood pregnancy test (serum beta hCG). That test will give an actual amount of hCG in your bloodstream rather than just a positive/negative result. Any amount of 25 mIU/ml or more would be considered positive for pregnancy.
I hope this has helped you and answered your question. I do apologize for the delay - I have a miserable strep throat. I wish you well and a Merry Christmas!
Brenda
