Pregnancy Tests

Pregnancy tests fall into one of two groups.  The first group of tests falls into those that you can do at home.  These home pregnancy tests check your urine for the presence of the hormone, hCG.  The second group of pregnancy test is done at a clinic or at your doctor or midwife's office.  This second type of pregnancy test is based on the presence or absence of the hormone hCG in your blood instead of your urine.

Both home pregnancy tests (based on a urine sample) and office/clinic tests (based on a blood sample) look for the hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), also called the pregnancy hormone.  This hormone is produced by your body when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. While many home pregnancy tests claim to be 99% accurate on the day you miss your period, the fact is that these tests do not consistently spot pregnancy that early. A home pregnancy test will usually be able to give you an accurate result about 2 weeks after conception.

There are a variety of home pregnancy tests that you can buy without a prescription.  They typically run between $8-$20 and require you to expose a specially treated stick to your urine.  Then you wait a specified time and inspect a "result window" to see if the test is positive for pregnancy.  Sometimes you can get false negative results (when the test says you are not pregnant and you are) if you test too early in the pregnancy. Accordingly, most home pregnancy test advise you to repeat the test again in a few days regardless of the result.

Blood testing done in a clinic or doctors office is generally more sensitive and accurate than a home pregnancy test.  A blood pregnancy test may be able to give you accurate results about 6 to 8 days after an egg has been released from your ovary.

To learn more about home pregnancy tests, their accuracy, how to use them, which brands are best, what can affect the results, and when to visit your health care provider, visit the link home pregnancy tests on the PregnancyAndChildren website.  You can also visit the page Pregnancy Symptoms for additional information.

Food and Drug Administration
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
National Women's Health Information Center

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