Do you want to know the three advanced testing for pregnancy tips every sexually active woman should be aware of to get accurate results in just a few minutes?
If you’re a sexually active woman who wants to know the advanced tips to get accurate pregnancy test results, continue reading. You can avoid getting wrong results by taking your testing for pregnancy efforts to the next level.
Track your results and progress by using our Amazon link to get BookFactory’s Pregnancy Testing Log Book / Journal.
Testing for Pregnancy: Sexually Active Women Need To Know
Do you know that birth control doesn’t work 100% of the time? Things can go wrong, so you need to plan for contingencies. You need to know about pregnancy tests, how they work, and how to perform pregnancy testing.
Use the following tips to prepare yourself for the time you need to find out. With the knowledge you gain, you’ll know how to plan for the next step.
Advanced Tip #1: OTC pregnancy tests differ little in accuracy
Accuracy concerns lead to wasted time and money. You want your Equate Pregnancy Test or other OTC pregnancy test to deliver results you can trust. Women who want results often think that spending more money to buy expensive nationally marketed pregnancy test brands will give them better accuracy.
Practically every available pregnancy test claims “over 99% accurate from the day of your missed period.”
False Negative
If you test early for pregnancy, you lose accuracy because you have a lower amount of HCG in your system. (HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone that’s associated with pregnancy). So, with a low sensitivity home pregnancy test, you’re likely to get a false negative when testing early.
For example, if you choose the Walgreens Pregnancy Test and get one line, test again, closer to your expected period.
False Positive
You can choose a high HCG sensitivity pregnancy test, such as the First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test or the Family Dollar Pregnancy Test. Those tests detect lower amounts of HCG and, therefore, can cause false positive pregnancy test results. (Women normally have some HCG in their systems. Natural HCG concentration varies among women and can, therefore, cause unpredictable results with an “early result pregnancy test.)
Are you ready? Learn more about the Walgreens Pregnancy Test False Negative and how to get a better result.
Learn from this valuable tip: practically all OTC pregnancy tests have a similar efficiency level. Realize that accuracy depends more on when you take your test and how well you follow its directions and liberate yourself from manipulative branding and marketing.
Testing too early after ovulation causes the most inaccurate results. Similarly, storing your test in cold or hot temperatures can lead to misleading outcomes. Allowing either too little too much time between performing the test and reading the result can also cause erroneous results.
When testing for pregnancy, you may also get an evap line. We’ve written about this in an article about the Walgreens Pregnancy Test, but it can happen to anyone.
Advanced Tip #2: OTC money doesn’t buy you greater pregnancy test sensitivity
For a long time, First Response made the claim, “Only brand that can tell you 6 Days Sooner Than Your Missed Period.” For a while that claim was true.
Now FRER has come out with new packaging that removes that claim. In other words, you don’t need to spend money on First Response to get the most sensitive pregnancy test.
Now, many generic and store brand pregnancy tests have the same analytical sensitivity as the First Response Early Result test.
POWER TIP: Check out the CPG Health Pregnancy Test Index to compare pregnancy test specifications, such as sensitivity.
Get better results while testing for pregnancy by understanding sensitivity ratings. Pregnancy test products contain test material that reacts to the hCG pregnancy hormone in your urine. After conception, hCG levels gradually increase at first and then double every 24 to 48 hours. Tests with high sensitivity ratings detect smaller amounts of hCG, allowing you to test earlier than you can with other tests. No correlation between the price of your test and its sensitivity.
An Equate Pregnancy Test from Wal-Mart, for example, has a sensitivity rating of 25 mIU/ml. When hCG concentration in your urine reaches that level, it will display a positive result that matches the diagram found in the instructions. New Choice Pregnancy Test sensitivity from Dollar Tree has a sensitivity of 20 mIU/ml, making it more sensitive than the Equate products. Some drug tests distributed by Inverness Technologies and sold at large retail chains have sensitivity levels of 50 mIU/ml. Meanwhile, nationally marketed brands such as EPT (40 mIU/ml) and Clearable (50 mIU/ml) cost almost double the price of Equate and up to ten times more than the on-dollar Dollar Tree test.
Advanced Tip #3: OTC pregnancy test sensitivity doesn’t matter
Stop worrying about the sensitivity level of your pregnancy test. Yes, you can get a more sensitive test and save money by using the Dollar Tree test. Still, the variation doesn’t matter much. Although the difference between 20 mIU/ml and 50 mIU/ml seems high, your body only needs one day to increase its hCG level by 30 ml. Most women will reach both levels during the fifth week after conception. Still, testing so early reduces the accuracy of your test, making sensitivity an unnecessary concern.
Now that “early result” pregnancy tests with 10 mIU/mL sensitivity have flooded the market, you have additional concerns. Women who have naturally high HCG will often trigger a false positive pregnancy test result.
POWER TIP: If you test early, verify your result by testing again in a few days and on the day of your expected period.
Advanced Tip #4: Wait as long as possible to test for pregnancy
Expensive brands such as the First Response Pregnancy Test make bold claims about how early you can test for pregnancy. In fact, they now say, “Test 6 Days Sooner.” But, they have a disclaimer.
Read the fine print. You will find a chart detailing the effect of testing early on accuracy printed on the package of every so-called “first result” test. Save money and worry by waiting until after the first day of your missed period to test, when the accuracy of almost every test will surpass 90%. If you test one week after the start of your missed period, you can expect 97% accuracy. If you choose to test early, buy multiple tests, so you can re-test after the first day of your missed period.
Use the advanced tips above for successful pregnancy testing to make your experience with the product of your choice accurate and fruitful.
Get more with CPG Health
Want to learn more about testing for pregnancy? Visit the U.S. government’s National Library of Medicine for more information.
Women trust CPG Health because we provide the latest, up-to-date, accurate information about pregnancy and pregnancy testing.
Use the following links, published right here at CPG Health, to learn more about pregnancy tests and how to shop for them.
