Women can miss a period from stress or illness, so a missed period alone is not indicative of pregnancy. If you notice a missed period and are worried, get yourself a (pregnancy) urine testing kit from the chemist or drugstore. Between 3-6 weeks there is a hormone called HcG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin) produced by women shortly after conception which stimulates the corpus luteum to continue to produce progesterone. THe presence of HcG in a woman's urine indicates she is pregnant. One of the drawbacks with home-kits are that they are less accurate than laboratory tests. If your home kit shows a positive result, follow this up with a visit to your doctor to confirm. Other early symptoms of pregnancy include breast tenderness and nausea.

Best Wishes,

Melissa BEE

Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team