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| Pregnancy Test Accuracy | The accuracy or different pregnancy tests becomes more and more improved every year. Urine as well as blood pregnancy tests’ accuracy is considered to range from 97% to 99%. However, in any kind of test’s performing it is possible that a mistake can happen, and moreover, its accuracy much depends on how the test was performed.
Home Pregnancy Tests
Nearly all home pregnancy tests are considered to be about 97% accurate. In case if you want to obtain the most accurate results, you should better wait for about a week after your period is due before performing the home pregnancy test. During this period more HCG will build up in your urine, and it will let to obtain more accurate test’s results. There are urine pregnancy tests, which may be performed on the first day of your period’s delay; however, it is unlikely that you will have that 97% accuracy rate if you perform it so early. Remember, that you are to perform home urine pregnancy test in the morning, using the first morning urine sample, even before you drink or eat anything, as this will allow for a buildup of any HCG presence in your urine.
All home pregnancy tests’ accuracy depends on many factors, among which:
The way, the test is used – you are to make sure to follow all the instructions and check the expiration date;
The time, the test is used – keep in mind, that the amount of HCG, which is also called the pregnancy hormone, in your urine gets increased as the time goes by. That is why the earlier the test is performed, the less its accuracy is, because the harder it is to spot the presence of HCG hormone. To obtain more accurate result, it would be a good idea to wait for a week after a missed period to perform the pregnancy test. Moreover, only morning urine sample is to be used for the higher accuracy of the pregnancy test.
Who performs the home pregnancy test – it is known, that the amount of HCG in the blood of every woman may differ. This is why there are woman, who may have accurate results on the first day of the missed period, and others will have to wait some time.
The brand of the test – there are some home pregnancy tests, which are more sensitive than others, and some of them are better in revealing HCG early than others.
How Soon After a Missed Period Can a Home Pregnancy Test Be Performed To Get Accurate Results?
There are a lot of home pregnancy tests, which promise to be up to 99% accurate, if they are even performed on the first day a woman has her period missed. However, researchers suggest that most home pregnancy tests are not able to determine the presence of pregnancy that early, moreover, even if they do, their results are often so faint, that they are easy to misunderstand. The best is to wait one week after a missed period and then the chances to obtain up to 97% accurate results of the home pregnancy test rise a lot. However, if you need to know earlier, you may ask your doctor to perform a blood test, which is considered to be much more sensitive.
Still, whether a home pregnancy test will provide a woman with accurate result depends on many factors, some of them include:
How long it takes for the fertilized egg to get implanted into the uterus after the process of ovulation. It has already been mentioned, that all pregnancy tests urine as well as blood ones look for the HCG, which begins to be produced in the woman’s organism only after the fertilized egg’s implantation. Usually it happens about six days after the conception, however, it has been found, that there are about 10% of women, in whom the embryo does not get implanted into the uterus until some later, sometimes even after the first day of the missed period.
How a woman performs the test. You are to make sure to follow all the instructions, provided in the test kit and check the expiration date of the pregnancy test.
When a woman performs the test. It is quite logical to assume that the amount of the HCG in pregnant woman increases as the time goes by. That is why the earlier after a missed period a woman performs the home pregnancy test; the more difficult it is to spot the HCG. If a woman waits for about a week after her period is missed, she is more apt to have an accurate result. Moreover, testing the urine first thing in the morning yet before eating or drinking anything may influence the accuracy in a positive way.
Who performs the test. The amount of HCG in the urine at different terms of early pregnancy is different from woman to woman. Thus, some women may have accurate result of the home pregnancy test already on the first day of her missed period, while for others it may take some longer.
The brand of the home pregnancy test. Some of the home pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others, thus they are better than others at revealing HCG at early terms of pregnancy.
Clinic Pregnancy Tests
Those blood pregnancy tests, which are performed in the clinical conditions, are considered to be up to 99% accurate; moreover, they are able to detect pregnancy at earlier terms, than any available urine pregnancy test. Blood pregnancy tests can be performed as early as seven days after the ovulation takes place (and it is about a week before your menstruation is to begin), and you may still rely on accurate results of it. However, you should keep in mind, that there are cases, when laboratory oversights affect the accuracy of the pregnancy test, but they are extremely rare.
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