When thinking about getting pregnant, the majority of the women ask how accurate are home pregnancy tests when they use one. The truth is that taking such a test could turn out to be nerve-racking especially if you aren’t certain of the accuracy of the results.
When should you take a home pregnancy test?
The majority of the manufacturers claim that the tests offer accurate results starting with the first day of a missed period or even sooner. However the results are even more reliable a week after the first missed period. It is a known fact that after a fertilized egg gets attached to the lining of the uterus, the body starts producing hCG.
The thing to know about home pregnancy kits is that during the early stages of pregnancy the hCG levels of the blood increase very fast, in some cases doubling every other day. HCG levels can be accurately detected in urine a week after the first missed period.
However, before the first missed period the kits for home pregnancy aren’t that accurate. If it is important for you to know whether you are pregnant or not right away, you should have a blood pregnancy test. This is more sensitive than the urine test and it can be done at the office of your doctor.
Kinds of pregnancy tests for home
Although there are different kinds of pregnancy tests, in the majority of the cases you have to place the end of the stick on the urine flow or immerse it is a container of urine for about 10 seconds. A few minutes later the stick will show you the results; there will be a plus or minus sign.
In other cases the home test for pregnancy will show a color change. Some test will spell out the word ‘pregnant’ or ‘not pregnant’ according to the results. It is important to remember that the instructions vary from one test to the other and this is why you should always read the instructions before use.
The accuracy of home pregnancy tests
The majority of the manufacturers claim that the tests are 99% accurate if you test on the first day of your missed period. The studies show that the accuracy at this point isn’t as high as claimed; a week after the first missed pregnancy the results are really accurate.
Medication
When thinking about the pregnancy tests’ accuracy you should know that the fertility drugs and the other medications that contain hCG could interfere with the results. However the majority of the drugs, such as antibiotics and birth control pills have no effect on the results.
False positive
If you are thinking about the accuracy of pregnancy tests you should know that although it is rare, it is possible to have a false positive result. This means that you get a positive result even though you aren’t really pregnant. Usually it is caused by taking some kind of medication that contains hCG.
There is a lot to know about the at home pregnancy test.
