Home pregnancy test, how does it work and how reliable is it?

There are a large number of symptoms that give us clues as to whether a woman is pregnant . The most obvious signs are experiencing a delay, breast tenderness, nausea between 15-30 days after pregnancy, excessive fatigue and a high body temperature during the first 15 days. However, not all women have the same symptoms . What’s more, there are some that women never get to experience. We cannot always rely on a delay , sometimes the period is delayed due to stress or nervousness. There are even a lot of women with irregular periods. What to do in these cases?

If we want to ensure almost 100% of our pregnancy, the most comfortable and practical thing is to buy a home pregnancy test. From the first week of pregnancy, women secrete a hormone called human carionic gonadatropin (hCG) that is formed by the cells of the placenta at the moment in which a fertilized egg implants in the uterus, hCG travels through the blood. It is also seen in a woman’s urine and its concentration increases over time during pregnancy. That is why it is necessary to allow at least a week and a half to pass if we want to make sure of it well.

Another question is: Is it better to go to the doctor to have an analysis or to opt for a home pregnancy test? A blood hormone monitoring test is far more reliable than a urine one. However, it takes longer to know the result . In addition, doctors usually only do it when they want to know the levels of the hormone hCG in the blood.

IS THE HOME PREGNANCY TEST RELIABLE?

Through a blood hormone test we obtain 100% efficiency. For this we have to go to a health center and ask for the test. With the home pregnancy test we obtain 99% accuracy . The only downside is that we have to wait between 1 and 2 weeks if we want to make sure that we do not have false negatives since the hCG hormone is found in less quantity in the urine than in the blood at the beginning of pregnancy, it is more difficult to identify.

To benefit from the maximum possible reliability, it is convenient to do the test from the first day of delay, never before (due to the problem mentioned above). Ideally, a week later if you are regular or two weeks later if your rules are imprecise.

There are other tests on the market that have a higher detection sensitivity and therefore, we can use them up to 8 days before having the period (depending on the manufacturer). They are the early detection tests. They have a detection sensitivity of 10 and 20 mUl / ml when the normal sensitivity for standards is 25 mUl / ml. Therefore, a clue about the sensitivity of the pregnancy test is that, look at the sensitivity of the product. The lower the mUl / ml, the more sensitive the test will be (a 20 mUl / ml will be more sensitive than a 40 mUl / ml). Even so, you must always read in the instructions the recommended period to perform the test if you want to avoid false negatives.

WHERE TO BUY IT AND WHAT IS ITS PRICE?

We can buy it in pharmacies . Not normally in supermarkets, however there are stores that do sell them, although they would be breaking the law. They can also be purchased by packs on the internet although it is not very advisable for several reasons. First, because the home pregnancy test is a test that can deteriorate in the face of sudden changes in temperature , so we do not know in what conditions it has traveled and it could have lost its effectiveness during the journey. And second, because there are some tests that, although they are very cheap, may not follow European standards and have a lower detection sensitivity . There are tests that only detect from 100 mUl / ml of hCG in urine compared to the 25 mUL / ml on average that usually exist.

The price is variable. Online is cheaper although we have the aforementioned drawbacks. Then depending on the brands we will find a lot of variability. Normally it is between 5 and 20 euros . There are inexpensive and very reliable brands for just 10 euros.

HOW DOES IT WORK AND HOW DO WE INTERPRET IT?

The first thing we have to look at is the expiration date , although it is usually long, it is better to make sure to avoid disappointment. If we have stored the pregnancy test in a humid place and you think it has been damaged, it is better to throw it away and use another one. Therefore, it is not recommended to use the bathroom because it is a place where a lot of steam is concentrated.

THE TEST MEASURES THE LEVELS OF THE HORMONE HCG IN THE URINE

The way you give the results will also vary. Some show pink or blue lines in the test band. The most modern ones have a digital screen where you can read whether or not you are pregnant. Finally, the most classic ones show you a positive or negative sign in a window

If the test is negative and after a few days you still have the delay, repeat the test again . You may have applied it too early to make it positive. That is why it is important to respect the recommended time to use the pregnancy test. Although in your previous pregnancy you had tested positive very early, it does not mean that the same thing happens in this one. Each pregnancy is unique and different. In the same way, if the result does not look good, wait a few days and repeat it.

IS A FALSE POSITIVE POSSIBLE?

Yes, it is another option. Although they are less common. Sometimes you can under these conditions:

-You have had a miscarriage in the last 7-8 weeks.

-You used a test that was expired or defective.

-If you are taking hCG hormones to improve fertility.

-Sometimes patients with certain types of cancers can give false positives when a tumor secretes hCG into the bloodstream.

-You had a chemical pregnancy . It is unlikely, but it may happen that you get positive and after a few days you get your period, what happened? The fertilized egg implanted in the uterus long enough to secrete hCG, but for some unknown reason it did not fully develop and is lost. It can occur when the zygote has some type of defect that would prevent normal development.

Finally, there are times when a woman may feel that she is pregnant but the test results are negative . Is this possible? Yes. You may be suffering a psychological pregnancy. The woman has the typical symptoms and signs of a pregnancy but in reality she is not. It is a psychological disorder that can appear in women with a great desire to be mothers. If you notice a lot of fatigue, dizziness and nausea and the test result is negative, it is best to make sure and go to the doctor . He will give you totally different guidelines on how to proceed.