Having a pregnancy test is not a difficult task these days. Being a mother is the biggest pleasure for every woman, but sometimes women are also afraid of unwanted pregnancy.
In such a situation, with the help of pregnancy tests, women can overcome the dilemma of their minds in minutes.
Most pregnancy test kits detect the presence of a hormone called HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). Health experts and women use several types of pregnancy tests to test for pregnancy.
A urine pregnancy test may require a strip, cassette, or midstream device. After this, the pregnancy test has to be completed by following the instructions given on the pregnancy test kit.
Since pregnancy test kits are not 100% accurate, doctors confirm pregnancy through a blood test or ultrasound to ensure pregnancy.
What Happens in a Pregnancy Test?
A pregnancy test detects the pregnancy hormone HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in blood or urine. Let us tell you that only hormones are detected in the pregnancy test and not the fetus.
This hormone is released from the placenta when the embryo attaches to the inner lining of the uterus. Therefore, a pregnancy test can reveal whether or not there is a pregnancy.
Apart from the urine test, a pregnancy test is done under a doctor’s supervision, It detects the presence of the HCG hormone in the blood, while ultrasound checks the presence of the fetus in the womb using sound waves.
When to do a pregnancy test
As your pregnancy progresses, your HCG hormone levels will increase. Your body can produce HCG even before you are pregnant, so if you take a pregnancy test on the first day of a missed period, then it is a good time to do the test.
If you have done the test correctly, it can give you a really positive result. However, this test shows a negative result if your HCG level is low. Sometimes it shows a positive result but it does not mean that you are 100% pregnant.
How to do a pregnancy test at Home
The pregnancy hormone hCG is usually at its highest in the morning, so if you have just conceived, this is the best time for you to get tested.
Take care not to over-consume your beverages prior to the test as these can dilute the HCG and give you false or negative results. As soon as you take the test stick out of the packet, do not touch the area that absorbs the urine.
You can do the test in two ways: first by directly exposing the stick to urine and second by submerging the stick in the cup.
If you are taking antibiotics such as birth control pills or pain-relieving pills, these will not affect your test results.
You may get a false-positive result if you are taking any other pregnancy-related medicine that contains hCG. In this case, you need to consult a doctor.
Pregnancy Tests at clinics
The doctor performs the Pregnancy test majority in three ways:
Urine test: The doctor also conducts the test with the above pregnancy test kits.
Blood test: In this, the doctor asks you to take a beta hCG test done by blood test and the result comes in its report but this test is less used than the urine test.
Sonogram or ultrasound: A sonogram or ultrasound is a test done during pregnancy in which you can see a vague picture of the fetus in your womb on a computer screen. This picture is either black or white. These images are also called sonograms, echo tests or scans.
The sonogram also tells the gestational age of your fetus. If more than one fetus is growing in your womb, then it is also displayed in it.
Pregnancy Test Kit
An easy way, to find out if you are pregnant, is to use a pregnancy test kit.
For quick, easy, and accurate results, all you need to do is put a few drops of your urine on the strip of a pregnancy test kit and the result is in front of you.
This test strip is also called a pregnancy test kit. It checks the amount of hCG hormone in your urine. This test takes only 5 minutes to show the result. Doctors also recommend the use of this kit to do a pregnancy test.
In this article, we will discuss these queries – What is a pregnancy test kit, how to use it, the meaning of the pregnancy test, the result, and the name & price of the kit available in the market?
Types of test kit
There are two types of pregnancy test kits available in the market –
- Strip pregnancy test kit – This is the main type of pregnancy test kit. You can catch it in the stream of your urine. If the HCG hormone is present in your urine, the color of one end of the strip will start to change. Which indicates a positive strip pregnancy test. A positive strip pregnancy test means that you are pregnant.
- Cup test kit – This kit also contains a cup for collecting urine along with the test equipment. After taking urine in this cup, immerse this test instrument in the cup. If HCG is present in the urine, it will change color which means that you are pregnant.
Benefits of test kit
Using a pregnancy test kit saves you from the hassle of going to the doctor every time. Women who are trying to get pregnant usually keep a small pack of pregnancy test kits at home for them to test at their convenience. Once the result is positive, they go to the hospital for prenatal tests.
For women who are not trying to get pregnant, but who have had unprotected sex, pregnancy test kits give them an opportunity to detect pregnancy early so that they can have an abortion if they want. Early detection of pregnancy gives them full time to make the right decisions for their health.
When to use the pregnancy test kit
You can use a pregnancy test kit if you are already trying to get pregnant, or have had unprotected intercourse for any other reason. Sometimes, condoms or birth control pills fail and these easily available test kits help in the early detection of pregnancy.
Usually, hCG can be detected in urine 5 to 12 days after the egg has implanted in the uterus. The best time to use a pregnancy test kit is in the morning when the pregnancy hormones are at their peak levels in the urine. The chances of getting an accurate result are highest in the first urine of the day.
Additionally, if you have had unprotected sex and have missed your period and are experiencing fatigue, nausea, sore throat and mild breast pain, you should check if you are pregnant.
How to use a pregnancy test kit
The pregnancy test kit is very easy to use. Of course, there are many types of kits available today, but the method of use is the same, which is also shown in the video below and is also written here additionally –
- Whatever method you are using according to your kit, use a midstream specimen as a urine sample, which means letting some of the urine drain out before collecting the urine.
- If you are urinating directly on the strip, be sure to check how long to do so before doing so as some kits have instructions not to use it for more than 5 seconds. You can also use a stopwatch to check the time. Make sure the urine absorber end of the strip is facing the urine before using it.
- Use a dropper to drop a few drops of urine. This cup is useful in the kit method. Put the drops of urine only in the right direction. Some brands of kits require you to dip the absorbent part of the stick into the urine and hold for 5-10 seconds, or as long as the kit says.
- Now wait some time. And keep the test stick in a clean place. Results are available in 5 minutes but some kits take even 10 minutes. It is better to wait for the result as per the instructions written on the kit.
- Now check the result after the stipulated time. If you don’t understand the result, read the instructions on your kit because some kits have the result as a “plus and minus.” Some have a “color change” and some may say you’re “pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”.
Pregnancy test kit results
All these home tests can be 99% accurate if you have done it on the very first day of missing your period. Despite this, sometimes even a little carelessness in doing the test can lead to wrong results, which are also called false positive or false negative tests. This is also due to the wrong test of the hCG hormone.
Pregnancy test light pink line and dark pink line
If a light pink positive line comes in the test, it means that you are pregnant and in some cases, this line is also dark in color it also means that you are pregnant.
Basically, the color of the line indicates the amount of HCG hormone in your urine. If there is more quantity, a dark pink line appears and if there is less quantity, a light pink colored line appears.
Pregnancy test results faint line
If you do the test the very next day after you miss your period, then there is a higher chance of getting a positive foam line because at this time you have hCG in your urine but the amount is less so it is called a positive foam test and as the pregnancy progresses the amount of HCG also increases and then a dark pink line appears on the test.
Positive pregnancy test kit result
In the test stick, a control line appears before testing and another line after testing. Before taking the test, read the instructions on the kit carefully and check the test result accordingly.
The line of the positive result is not as deep as the line already present but if you can see another line then be happy because it means you are pregnant. It doesn’t matter how deep or light the line is visible.
Negative pregnancy test kit result
A negative pregnancy test shows only the control line that is displayed before the test. Other than that no other line is displayed. Sometimes a light line appears as a result but after a stipulated time.
If ever this happens then it is also considered a negative result because this test has a time limit and after that time limit, the test is discarded i.e. none of the results are valid.
If your result is negative and you still haven’t started having periods, take a pregnancy test again because you may have made a mistake in counting the days of your period or the level of HCG in your urine is too low. And If the result is coming negative even after re-test and you are not getting periods, then consult a doctor.
Some women do not get a positive result in this early stage or some can be detected only after taking a blood test. Every woman’s body works differently, so if you think you are pregnant, you may want to see a doctor.
Pregnancy test kit names and prices
There are pregnancy test kits available today. Here, we are mentioning the names and prices of some of them.
| NAME | PRICE |
| AQ | Rs. 40 |
| Prega News | Rs. 50 |
| Prega News Advance | Rs. 50 |
| i-Can | Rs. 50 |
| Pragacolor | Rs. 70 |
| Clearblue | Rs. 86 |
| Velocity Easy | Rs. 98 |
| Velocit | Rs. 130 |
Test at home without kit
It is difficult to do an accurate pregnancy test at home without any kit. It is better that you use the pregnancy test strips available in the market to confirm the pregnancy.
But if you can’t find or can’t get those strips now and you’re curious to know if you’re pregnant or not, you can do this test using the following household items, but keep in mind that they might not give correct results as their accuracy has always been in question. In case of pregnancy-related confusion, you will have to go to the doctor and get it confirmed.
With soap
A home pregnancy test with soapy water is not very reliable, but you can go for it because of the easy nature of the test.
First, take your urine sample in a container. Then soak the soap with water. Make a lather and keep the soap. Now put these soap suds in your urine sample, if bubbles are rising in it then you are likely to be pregnant. But because it is not a more reliable test, it would be a better option to do another test.
With sugar
Sugar pregnancy tests are one of the more widely used methods to confirm pregnancy at home without a kit.
Take urine in a container. Add 2-3 spoons of sugar to it, now stir to dissolve this mixture. If you are pregnant, the hCG hormone present in your urine will react with sugar molecules and turn into a lumpy form.
Keep in mind that no matter how much you shake the pot, all the sugar will not dissolve and if it does not happen then you are not pregnant.
With toothpaste
This test gives fairly accurate results, but it is not completely reliable, so be sure to do the right medical test. Use only white toothpaste for this test. Take urine in a cup.
Now add a small amount of toothpaste to it and mix it with the help of a brush. If the HCG present in your urine reacts with the toothpaste, it will either foam or turn blue. But if it doesn’t then you are not pregnant.
With vinegar
You can also use vinegar for pregnancy tests. Take some vinegar in a vessel, now mix your urine in it.
If bubbles are rising in the mixture then wait for a while, if its color changes after some time then you are pregnant but no color change means that you are not pregnant.
With baking soda
People believe that this technique tells the pregnancy test as well as the sex of the baby. But in reality, this is a completely wrong notion because there is no scientific fact behind it.
To test this at home, take 2 teaspoons of baking soda in a bowl, put a few drops of urine in it. If the baking soda reacts with the urine, then you are pregnant.
With bleach
This is the easiest and most accurate pregnancy test technique. Take a urine sample in a container and add some amount of bleach to it. If foam starts to form then you are pregnant.
It would be better if you do this experiment in an open place rather than in a closed place because bleach produces some gas that can cause suffocation.
Note: If all the above tests are done with morning urine then it will give better results.
