Pregnancy Tests:

Today it’s easy to learn if you’re pregnant by taking an at-home pregnancy test. These pregnancy tests can be purchased online or in your local pharmacy or drug store. An at-home test is not only easy to use but is found to be 99% accurate, which is the same rate found in urine tests performed in a doctor’s office. A prescription is not necessary to purchase a pregnancy test, making these tests available to everyone. Many women prefer using an at-home pregnancy test because of the privacy it offers.

Pregnancy tests will require you to place a few drops of urine or a stream of urine onto a chemically treated strip. This chemical will determine whether the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) pregnancy hormone is detected. If hCG is detected the strip will react by changing color or revealing a symbol or words informing you that you are pregnant. Following the directions on this test is essential for accuracy. Taking the test earlier than 10 days following conception may lead to a false negative. Some home tests get accurate results earlier than others. The more sensitive, the earlier it can detect a pregnancy. To ensure accurate testing results, a woman should wait between 5 and 10 days after their period is late before taking the pregnancy test.

If you feel the test did not give you accurate results, be sure to see your physician. Pregnancy tests are often performed in the doctor’s office either with a urine test or under special circumstances, a blood test. A blood test was the usual way to determine pregnancy a few years back but now with cost to consider, urine tests are the wiser way to go. With urine at-home tests you can have your results almost immediately and with the same accuracy you’d find in your doctor’s office.