Battle Of The Nightingale Practice Test

Pregnancy naturally shifts toward a hypercoagulable state to help prevent excessive bleeding during delivery. The liver increases production of several coagulation factors, including fibrinogen, so its level rises above prepregnancy values. This rise in fibrinogen fits with the body’s tendency to enhance clotting capacity during pregnancy. Glucose levels are not predictably elevated in a normal pregnancy; they stay close to prepregnancy values unless gestational diabetes is present. Bilirubin levels are not typically higher than before pregnancy, and hematocrit usually decreases due to plasma volume expansion outpacing red blood cell production, leading to physiologic anemia rather than an increase. So the elevated lab value most characteristic of normal pregnancy is fibrinogen.