Have you missed your menstrual period and suspecting pregnancy? Confirm your pregnancy through pregnancy test.
The test can be done at doctor’s clinic or through home pregnancy test kit. The kit usually comes in two types: test card and test strip.
It is common that women who eagerly trying to become pregnant wants to confirm her pregnancy immediately the day after a missed menstrual period.
However, performing pregnancy test one week after your missed period can give more accurate results.
Pregnancy test is generally performed to recognize the presence of a special hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is produced by the body after conception. This hormone is also known as pregnancy hormone.
The pregnancy hormone is produced in your body when a fertilized egg develops in the uterus. The hormone generally appears in the urine as well as blood of pregnant women after conception. This takes a minimum of six days after conception.
Remember that the amount of HCG increases rapidly in the first four months of your pregnancy and declines gradually. The levels of pregnancy hormone should increase progressively for every forty-eight hours during first trimester of pregnancy.
However, if the HCG levels don’t rise properly, it indicates a problem with pregnancy. The problems associated with this condition are miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests are of two types: urine test and blood test. Both tests detect the presence of pregnancy hormone. Urine pregnancy test can be performed at home using a home pregnancy test kit or in a doctor’s clinic.
Urine pregnancy test is generally performed using urine sample. Remember that pregnancy test gives accurate results with sample of first morning urine (FMU).
The pregnancy test card of home pregnancy test kit requires 2-3 drops of urine for pregnancy confirmation. However, a pregnancy test strip requires a cup of urine to confirm pregnancy. The results may take three to five minutes.
Double colored band indicates that pregnancy is confirmed whereas single colored band shows that you are not pregnant. In case, if you find no bands on the kit, you need to perform the test again with new pregnancy test kit.
On the other hand, in a clinic, urine sample will be collected and tests will be performed in laboratory for pregnancy confirmation. The urine pregnancy test done in the doctor’s presence will provide accurate results as early as seven days after conception.
Remember that the tests performed under laboratory are more reliable than home pregnancy tests, as trained clinician performs the test.
On the other hand, blood testsare of two types: quantitative blood test and qualitative HCG blood test. The quantitative blood test gives the amount of HCG present in the blood whereas qualitative HCG blood confirms your pregnancy with yes or no result.
Confirming pregnancy with blood pregnancy test is very earlier than a urine test. With blood test, it is possible to determine the amount of HCG in your body. But, a blood test is costly than urine test and takes long time for getting results.
