Implantation bleeding: When can I take a pregnancy test?

If you’re actively trying to get pregnant, you may be doing all you can to boost your chances of conception. Ovulation tracking? Check. Keeping an eye out for changes to your cervical mucus? Check. Reading up on some of the earliest signs of pregnancy? Check. 

This might also mean that you have come across the term implantation bleeding or the idea that you might spot after you’ve ovulated. Implantation is the moment you officially become pregnant. And once you suspect that you’re pregnant, the wait between conception and the earliest point you should do a test can be unbearable.

So, what’s the deal with implantation bleeding? Is it a sign of pregnancy, and when can you take a pregnancy test? With the help of a Flo expert, let’s break it down.

Key takeaways

• Implantation is the term used to describe when your fertilized egg attaches to your uterine lining. 
• Around a quarter of people will notice spotting or light bleeding after implantation. This might look like brown or pink discharge and is called implantation bleeding. 
• Annoyingly, bleeding outside of your period can be caused by a number of things, so it isn’t a surefire sign of implantation.
• The only way to know if you’ve conceived is by doing a pregnancy test, and the best time to take a test is after a no-show period. If you have a regular period, it’s best to wait before taking a test to get the most accurate result. 
• Flo for Pregnancy is on hand to support you throughout your pregnancy journey, and you can use a cycle-tracking app like Flo to monitor when you might have a late or missed period.

I have implantation bleeding: Can I take a test now?

So, you’ve noticed spotting, aren’t due for your period, and have been trying to conceive. This must be implantation bleeding, right? Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. 

Dr. Jenna Beckham, an obstetrician, gynecologist, and complex family planning specialist at WakeMed Health and Hospitals, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, North Carolina, US, explains that there are lots of things that can cause light spotting. Therefore, it’s not possible to be 100% certain that you’re experiencing implantation bleeding. The only way to know if you’re pregnant is by doing a test. And it’s still a little early for that. 

To better understand when the best time to take a test is, it can be helpful to understand a general timeline of getting pregnant. 

If you have an average menstrual cycle of around 28 days, then you’ll ovulate around day 14. It’s worth mentioning that everyone’s cycles are different. The length of yours may vary slightly from month to month, so the day that you ovulate might change too. You can better understand what’s typical for you by using an ovulation-tracking app like Flo. 

After one of your ovaries has released an egg, it remains viable for up to 24 hours. This means there’s a 24-hour period for it to meet and be fertilized by a sperm. If that happens, it’ll travel down one of your fallopian tubes and implant into the wall of your uterus. This is implantation and can occur between six and ten days after ovulation. It’s at this point that you might experience a little bit of bleeding or cramping. 

From this point, your implanted egg starts to release human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone has a really important job in supporting your pregnancy. It also happens to be the hormone pregnancy tests detect.  

While your hCG levels start low, they rise significantly through early pregnancy. The higher your hCG levels are, the easier it is for a pregnancy test to detect. So, you need to give your body a chance to produce enough hCG before taking a test.  

How long after implantation bleeding can you get a positive pregnancy test? 

If the spotting you’ve just experienced was indeed implantation bleeding, then your body will have only just started to produce hCG. This means your levels will be very low — potentially too low to be detected by a pregnancy test. 

So, if it isn’t advisable to take a pregnancy test right away, when can you? Put simply, if you think you could be pregnant, or you want to know if you are, wait to see if your next period shows. And if it doesn’t, that’s when you take an at-home test. This window when your period hasn’t arrived is when your hCG levels will have had enough time to reliably build — giving you a better chance of accurate pregnancy test results.

Some brands of pregnancy tests claim to be able to detect hCG sooner than this, and this is possible. But at-home pregnancy tests are always more likely to be accurate if they’re taken the day after you expect your period to arrive. If you’re unsure of what day to take a pregnancy test, you can try Flo’s pregnancy test calculator to understand when a test might be more accurate based on your cycle. You can also use a period-tracking app like Flo. An implantation calculator can help you understand when implantation might happen for you.  

How quickly does hCG rise after implantation? 

Once implantation has happened, your body starts to release hCG instantly. It initially does this through your fertilized egg (known as an embryo). Your body produces a whole new organ in early pregnancy called the placenta. It plays a fundamental role in supporting your growing baby. It starts to grow and develop around the 4th week, and once it’s fully formed, it takes over releasing hCG. 

From this point, your hCG levels rise quickly and peak around 10 weeks of pregnancy. 

How soon after implantation do pregnancy symptoms usually start?

Every pregnancy is different. Dr. Beckam highlights that “it is difficult to say when pregnancy symptoms would start after implantation.” 

While implantation bleeding isn’t necessarily a sign of early pregnancy, there are other symptoms you can keep an eye out for, such as: 

• Nausea 
• Breast tenderness
• Mood changes 
• Bloating 

The tricky thing is that while all of these symptoms are signs that you could be expecting, they’re a pretty standard part of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Additionally, many people don’t experience these symptoms until hCG rises to higher levels, around 6 to 7 weeks. It can be hard to differentiate between the two. If your period is late, and you’re experiencing any of them, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pregnant. It could just mean your period’s about to start.

In other words, there’s really only one reliable way to tell you’re pregnant, and that’s by taking a pregnancy test. 

How to choose the right pregnancy test for you

So, you’ve waited until your period is due, and it’s nowhere to be seen. Now is the time to go out and buy a test. You’ll likely notice that there are lots of different brands at the drugstore, but most home pregnancy tests work similarly. 

• Home urine pregnancy tests: These are tests you do yourself and involve peeing directly onto the test or peeing into a cup and dipping the test in. They can be picked up inexpensively in most drug and grocery stores or sometimes for free from local health centers or services.

  While all of these tests work by detecting hCG in your pee, it’s really important to read the instructions beforehand and give the test the allotted amount of time to develop before checking it. 

• Blood pregnancy tests at the clinic: You might also opt for a blood pregnancy test that can be done by a health care professional. You may choose to do this to confirm your pregnancy after getting a positive result on an at-home test. It can be quite difficult to give you anything other than initial guidance in your first few weeks of pregnancy. So if you’ve taken a digital test, and it’s indicated you’re in your 1st month of pregnancy, a health care professional will be able to recommend when you should book an appointment.   

  Blood pregnancy tests are much more sensitive, meaning they can pick up lower levels of hCG, and provide a more accurate result at an earlier stage than the at-home urine tests. However, you can’t access them at home, making them less convenient and more expensive.

  Instead of opting for a blood pregnancy test immediately, your doctor may suggest waiting and doing an at-home urine test before coming into a clinic to have your pregnancy confirmed.