A little guide in your pregnancy testing adventure
The old days of counting the days and looking for pregnancy signs are now long gone, since pregnancy tests were invented and they can tell you more precise than ever if you’re pregnant or not. There are two types of such tests: clinic tests(based on blood samples) and home tests(based on urine samples). It’s obvious the second ones are women’s favorites, since they are very practical(they offer the possibility to find out about a potential pregnancy in the comfort of your own home), they’re way cheaper than the others and they’re very accurate too.
All pregnancy tests are working by the same principle: they try to detect the presence and levels of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in a woman’s body(which only appears if she is pregnant) – and it’s produced by placenta at least after 6 days after ovulation. So, as there is no hCG in a woman’s body before this moment, it’s useless to take a test because it will give a negative result even if pregnant.
Things are pretty simple, basically: the first day after the moment of conception that you could be getting an accurate result is the 7th day; however, doctors recommend taking a test at least 2 weeks after that moment. Most of the tests’ instructions, though, suggest that the best moment for this is the day you have missed your period.
Most home tests also have some very important features which influence women’s choices: a high accuracy level, easy to use, easy to read, fast results etc. As it is a home test you have to take it alone (without a doctor’s assistance) but you don’t have to worry, firstly because it has some very detailed instructions, but also because it is so easy to use that it’s probably you don’t need them. All you have to do is remove the test stick cap and then hold the stick under your urine stream for 5 seconds. Then wait 2-3 minutes and you will get your result which is also very easy to read: a single line means not pregnant and two lines means pregnant. That’s the way of reading those normal tests, but there are some digital tests too and they are even easier to read because they give you the result spelled out in words, using the expressions: “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”.
As you can see, the best method to find out if you are pregnant or not is a pregnancy test. If you want to find out the truth in an intimate atmosphere or if you want a cheaper test you should choose a home one which is very accurate (most of them having an accuracy level of 98-99%), very easy to use, very easy to read and which can give you the result in only 2-3 minutes.