Pregnancy tests

If you even think that you are pregnant the first thing that you are going to need to do is to take a pregnancy test to confirm that you are pregnant. When it comes to pregnancy tests there are two kinds of tests that you can take urine tests and blood tests. The biggest difference between these tests is that the blood test is something that has to be done at the doctor's office, while the urine test can be done at home. It is the urine tests that have turned into what we know as the home pregnancy tests.

If this is the first time that you have needed to take a home pregnancy test you might be wondering just how pregnancy tests actually work. Whether you are taking urine or a blood pregnancy test these tests are looking for a special hormone in your urine or your blood that is only produced when you are pregnant. The hormone that they are looking for is called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), but it is also referred to as the pregnancy hormone. When it comes to this hormone you need to understand that it is only made after the fertilized egg has implanted itself into the uterus, which is about 6 days after conception.

The hardest part that women have when it comes to taking home pregnancy tests is that many tests claim that they can give you results sooner than your missed period or that they can give you your results on the day that you have missed your period. But according to a recent study that was done these tests don't give that accurate of results this early on in pregnancy. In fact they recommend that you wait at least a week until after your missed period to get the most accurate answer. The reason that the answer becomes more accurate as time goes by is because the levels of hCG increase drastically each day that you are pregnant. What this means is that the higher amounts will make it easier for the pregnancy test to pick up on the levels giving you the most accurate results.

 Although you can use either blood or urine tests many women these days are actually using the home pregnancy tests because of how easy they are to use. But not only that women are also using them because of how cheap they are and how private they are. But keep in mind for the best results you are going to need to wait until two weeks after you ovulate, but for some women the more sensitive tests will work before you have even missed your period. But no matter what kind of test you use if you have a positive home pregnancy test you are going to want to call your doctor right away. The reason for this is that your doctor is going to need to confirm that you are pregnant either through a blood test or a more sensitive urine test along with a pelvic exam. Not only that but seeing the doctor early on in your pregnancy will help ensure that both you and your baby stay healthy throughout the entire pregnancy.

If your doctor is using a blood test you want to be aware of the fact that a blood test can actually pick up hCG earlier in a pregnancy than any urine tests can. In fact blood tests can actually tell you 6 to 8 days after you ovulate if you are pregnant or not. The best part is that if the blood test is a quantitative blood test it is going to measure the exact amount of hCG that is in your blood, which means that it can pick up even the smallest amount of hCG, it can tell you how far along you are in the pregnancy because of how accurate it is. On the other hand there is also a qualitative blood test that simply tests for the presence of hCG, so it gives you a yes or no answer to if you are pregnant or not. This type of blood test is about as accurate as a urine test.

If you are considering using a home pregnancy test one of the main things that you might be concerned about is how accurate a home pregnancy test is. What you want to keep in mind is that home pregnancy test is actually very accurate, but how accurate they are is going to depend on a variety of factors. Here are some of the main things that determine how accurate a home pregnancy test is:

• How you use them - you want to make sure that you follow all of the directions and check the expiration date. If it is expired you want to be sure to throw it away and buy a new one.
  
• When you use it - because the hCG hormone levels in your urine increases over time you are going to want to wait a few days after you have missed your period to take it. The reason for this is that the earlier that you take the test the harder it is going to be to spot the hCG in your urine. The longer you wait the higher your chances of getting an accurate result. Another thing to keep in mind is that testing your urine first thing in the morning gives you more accurate results because the hCG is concentrated in your first urine of the day.
  
• Who uses one - because the levels of hCG in your urine are going to be different from that of every other women it is going to depend on your body when you are going to get the most accurate results. Some women can get accurate results before they miss their first period, where others will need to wait at least a week after their missed period to get an accurate result.
  
• Brand of test - because of the fact that some home pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others they are going to be able to spot the hCG levels early on where as some are going to take longer to detect the same amount of hCG levels in your blood.

 Another thing to keep in mind is that many home pregnancy tests claim to be 99% accurate on the day that you miss your period there has been some research done that shows that most home pregnancy tests do not spot pregnancy that early on. And for the most part if they do spot the pregnancy that early the results are usually so faint that people often misread them for a negative test. But some other things that affect the home pregnancy test giving accurate readings are:

How long it takes for the fertilized egg to implant - this is what happens in the uterus after you have ovulated. And since pregnancy tests look for the hCG hormone that is only created after the egg has implanted in the uterine wall it can vary on how long that takes. For most women it can take around 6 days but studies have been done that show 10% of women's bodies don't implant the egg until after the first day of the missed period, which is much later than six days. This is the biggest reason why pregnancy tests vary in providing accurate responses for some women but not others.

• Brand of test
  
• Who uses them
  
• When you use a home pregnancy test
  
• How you use a home pregnancy test

Keep in mind that even though home pregnancy tests claim to be 99% accurate on the day you miss your period this is not always going to be the case because of how different a women's body is from other women's bodies. In fact in 2004 a study was done on the accuracy of 18 home pregnancy tests that were sold in retail stores, researchers actually tested how accurate these tests were. In doing this test researchers found that only one brand of home pregnancy tests actually consistently detected the low levels of hCG that are usually present on the first day of the missed period. The brand that managed to do this was First Response, Early Result Pregnancy Test. All of the other 17 home pregnancy tests actually missed up to 85% of the pregnancies on the first day of the missed period, but they all provided accurate results one week after the missed period.

So if for some reason you need to find out if you are pregnant early or if you just have to know your best bet is to ask your doctor for a more sensitive urine test or use the First Response, Early Result Pregnancy Test. But you also need to keep in mind that you can get a negative result from a home pregnancy test and still end up being pregnant. So if you take a home pregnancy test and get a negative result and you still don't get your period be sure to take another home pregnancy test in a few days or even a week.