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A woman who suspects that she may be pregnant will often
purchase an over the counter pregnancy test. Early detection
pregnancy tests are available in many different brands, with
single or multiple tests per package. You can get a pregnancy
test at almost any pharmacy or drug store.
Most women really are not sure when it is the right time to
take a pregnancy test. There is no set rule about how long to
wait. Pregnancy tests will detect positive maternity
as early as one day past the day a period is due
all the way
up to nine months into the pregnancy, if needed. Because a
reliable, safe, and easy pregnancy test is so readily available
now, there is no reason to wait and is often better to detect
early pregnancy as early as possible.
Some pregnancy tests are considered what they call early
pregnancy tests. That means that they are designed to detect
a small enough amount of the pregnancy hormone to determine if a
woman is pregnant as early as the first day of a missed period,
or even a day or two before the period is due. The fine print on
the boxes will tell you that 65% of pregnant women had a
positive result when tested two days before the period was due,
and the percentage increased with each passing day. These are
usually accurate, but the most accurate results are achieved
after the period was expected. A woman will not get a false
positive in most cases, but a negative result will occur if
there is not enough pregnancy hormone detectable yet, even if
the pregnancy is positive.
Most tests require the woman to urinate on a stick or in
a cup, but a few test with a drop of blood instead. Some have a
digital readout, and others will show a plus sign or double line
in the event that it detects enough pregnancy hormone to
determine a pregnancy.
The highest level of pregnancy hormone is found in the
first-morning urine. That is the best time to use a pregnancy
test strip. Most of the test strips a woman urinates on need to
be saturated with urine in order to work properly. Therefore, be
sure to hold the stick in the urine stream for 3 good seconds or
more.
It takes about 5 minutes for the urine to travel down the
strip and the results to be indicated. The stick must be read
within 10 minutes, or it may indicate a positive result after 10
minutes, even if the result is actually negative. Positive
results that show up within the first 10 minutes may be very
faint. This would happen if it is early in the pregnancy, and
the pregnancy hormone is just barely detected. Even a faint
result is a positive result. The woman can confirm the positive
early detection by taking another pregnancy test a day or two
later to see a darker line appear.
Pregnancy tests are very accurate when used correctly. But,
remember, they must be used at the right time of the month. Too
early, and a false negative result will occur, due to the need
for the pregnancy hormone to be present in a high enough
quantity for the stick to measure. If the menstrual period is
two weeks late, and the pregnancy test is still negative, an
appointment with the doctor might be indicated.
If you are pregnant, you should call your doctor and make an
appointment. The first pregnancy appointment is usually at
around 12 weeks of pregnancy, in order to be able to hear the
baby's heartbeat.
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