Pregnancy Test Sensitivity: How It Impacts The Result?

In trying to find out if you’re pregnant, the first thing you would most likely do is take a pregnancy test. This means that the pregnancy test you choose should be accurate and sensitive enough to give you the right results.

The most important aspect of a pregnancy test is its sensitivity as a majority of women would be willing to pay a lot of money just to find out if they are pregnant or not. Pregnancy tests are most precise when they are used a week after a woman notices a delay in her period.

This gives emphasis on the sensitivity of pregnancy tests. You need to know about the sensitivity of the pregnancy kits that you use, and which one is the best.

In this article, we will discuss how pregnancy tests work, the factors that are responsible for determining the fakeness or tests credibility and affordability of the consumer. As every company selling testing kits, claims to show 99 percent accurate results, interpreting the test has become a norm.

Pregnancy test sensitivity is gaining popularity among the users, especially among women, who are super active in conducting the test and trying hard to have a baby.

How Do Pregnancy Tests Work

Pregnancy is one of the most significant and life changing events, which can happen in your life. The earlier you know that you are pregnant, the earlier you can make decisions regarding your life and your whole lifestyle.

Once you find out that you are pregnant, you could start taking better care of yourself, to ensure the good development of your baby.

From the moment, a baby is conceived within you, immense (though unnoticeable) changes are already starting to happen in your body. First off, your body begins to produce human Chorionic Gonadotropin (or hCG), which is a pregnancy hormone and can be found in your urine and in your blood.

As your pregnancy progresses, the quantity of hCG in your body quickly increases until it reaches its peak when you’re at the 8th to 10th week of pregnancy. Pregnancy tests work by detecting the levels of hCG in your urine or your blood.

Commercial pregnancy tests come with a strip, which is specially treated and encased in a stick. When your urine is exposed to that strip, the hCG levels in your urine are detected and you are given results in minutes from the contact.

To be able to get accurate results, you would have to find a high-quality at-home pregnancy test, which has a high sensitivity to hCG. This is because some tests aren’t sensitive enough to the hCG levels, especially if you are still in the early part of your pregnancy.

How Does Sensitivity Affect Pregnancy Test Results?

You must have noticed that all types of pregnancy tests are easy to use. The test includes handles that can be held while you pass a stream of urine into it.

Some women who are in their TTC (try to conceive) days are often worried about the money involved. In such times, such women opt for strips, as they are highly affordable.

To use these strips, you are asked to collect the urine in a cup and simply dip the strip into the collected sample.

In all these above mentioned ways of testing pregnancy, results can be easily judged by the clear demonstration of lines that defines the pregnancy. The only drawback of using the digital kits is that they are available at higher price.

Also, these are not so sensitive as compared to the traditional way of testing pregnancies. In order to interpret the results, you can follow few steps to know about the early detection.

Conduct test on first-morning urine

The main reason behind this is that the first urine of morning included the highest amount of hCG. Doing so, you can be sure of detecting early pregnancy.

Avoid dilution of urine

If at times, you are not able to test on FMU sample, you may take a test using a sample of urine passed in afternoon. To do so, you are advised to comfortably hold your urine for a longer time. It involves higher hCG levels.

Stick to the prescribed time

Many women often complain about false positive pregnancy times. This is rarely found while you are testing your pregnancy.

You should take care and respect the testing time of the pregnancy kit. However, this may occur only if you are conducting an early test or when there is no enough hCG found in the sample.

What is Internet Pregnancy Test?

Internet Pregnancy test is an online marketplace from where you can purchase “generic” pregnancy kits. All the available tests are FDA approved and are highly accurate and reliable.

Before making an online purchase, ensure that the kits or strips, which you chose to buy, are fresh and not half cut. Most internet companies are offering strips that have cut corners. They are found to sell halved strips or expired kits.

It is suggested to re-check if the strips are 5mm-wide, which makes the reading to be clear and highly visible. Also, ensure that the strip comes with a 2-year expiration date. So, this way you are now taking a fresh test on a spot-free strip.

Also, the cup that is responsible for holding the urine should be pat dried with a cloth before using. It should not contain any type of chemical in form of soap or detergent.

Conclusion

After reading all these tips, it is clear that accuracy of the pregnancy test is highly dependent on many notable factors. Another way to prevent you from pregnancy test sensitivity is to use your knowledge and make sure each instruction is followed.

Also, in order to get the best results, you should try the test at least twice. You can also visit the doctor’s chamber and do a blood test to be sure of the good news.

These tests are highly sensitive and even a single discrepancy at any point of time can lead to a misleading result, which is obviously not good.

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