Early-detection Pregnancy Test: It’s always better to know ASAP

Technological advances seem to be keeping us home most of the time, from online banking and telecommuting to early detection pregnancy tests. In lieu of the hassle going to the OB/GYN clinic, modern women can now find out easily if they have conceived a child in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. These tests scrutinise urine samples for minute levels of the pregnancy hormone HCG, which is secreted by a woman’s placenta as soon as a fertilized egg has been anchored to the wall of the womb.

How Minute is Minute?

The problem lies with the word “minute,” because different tests have vastly disparate levels of sensitivity to this unique hormone, generally measured in units of “milli- International Units”.  Commercially available test kits range from 20 to 100 mIU/ml, and the lower the figure, the more sensitive the test results are.  Used correctly, they can detect pregnancy as early as one week after conception.

But there is such a thing as being over-the-top. The earliest pregnancy test you can conduct is, according to doctors, observing a missed period.  This, however, occurs at least two weeks after conception. The reason doctors tend to advertise this “method” is because early detection pregnancy tests have a very low accuracy rate – a mere 97 percent.

Stats

If you are confused, consider the statistical implications: every single year, the vast majority of women will be able to gauge accurate results from these kits, but at the same time every doctor will have to deal with at least a dozen women whose results have gone wrong. If you want to be more certain of your results, your doctor can provide a blood test between a week and twelve days after conception, and this test is sensitive to as low as 5mIU/ml.  This awkward time rage makes more sense considering that your HCG level will spike to 100mIU/ml by day 15 past ovulation.

The key to early detection pregnancy tests is a simple equation: “Impatience leads to false negatives.”