What Every Woman Should Know About Early Detection Pregnancy Tests

An early detection pregnancy test is integral to safeguarding the baby’s growth. Granted, the standard method of urine sampling may be quite cumbersome, but these non-prescribed kits have the advantage of being widely available over the counter as well as on online pharmacies. All in all, it is your best bet for an accurate result short of going to the doctor’s.

Percentages & Accuracy

But, all home pregnancy tests are not alike. The oft-quoted rate of 97 percent accuracy assumes that you know that they function properly only on the seventh day after you have missed your period. They work by detecting the hCG levels in the urine, and the pregnancy hormone doesn’t actually manifest itself in adequate concentrations until the seventh day.

The crux of the matter is that these early detection pregnancy tests err on the side of caution. If you get a positive reading, you are almost certainly pregnant. But it doesn’t work the other way round: there is a much higher possibility of false negatives than false positives due to the way the chemical kit is constructed. So a negative reading doesn’t necessarily show that you aren’t pregnant. The safest thing to do is to repeat the test in a few days’ time, when the hCG levels rise a bit further.

Read The Fine Print Carefully

Another reason to read that legal fine print at the back of the box is the possibility of false positives when you are taking medication. Fertility drugs often contain hCG, and they would bring about trace amounts of the hormone in your urine in the same way a very early pregnancy does. In this case, you need a pregnancy kit that is actually less sensitive, in order to verify that the newfound hormones actually come from the womb and not the pills you take.

Patience is key to the whole fiasco about early detection pregnancy tests. Sometimes we can’t wait to find out whether we are expecting a new baby, but Mother Nature doesn’t like to be shoved around. If you need to make sure, call in the big guns, and consult your physician.