If you have been or have suspected pregnancy in the past, you have probably used at least one home pregnancy test. These kits are designed to be used at home to detect pregnancy. According to the commercials, it’s easy. You just pee on the stick, wait a few minutes and voila! Unfortunately, this scene doesn’t often play out in reality. It may go this smoothly for the lucky few, but many women have trouble reading the results.
The rest of us are left standing in the bathroom staring at the window on that little stick. Is that a line? It’s too light. Which is the control line and which is the result? Does the line have to be darker than the control line? Reading the instructions doesn’t help. You call your husband into the bathroom to look at it. “What the hell is that?!” he says.
Home pregnancy test kits work by testing for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is known as the pregnancy hormone. The tests all basically work the same way, urine is either collected in a cup or on the test stick in mid stream. The instructions will tell you how long you will have to wait to read the results. Follow these directions completely to get an accurate result.
How soon you can test will depend on the brand. Doctors usually recommend waiting until the day after your period is due to test. This allows more time for the hCG hormone to build up in the urine. Waiting may give a more conclusive result. Some brands are advertised to be used a few days before you have even missed a period. These tests are more sensitive and can pick up lower levels of hCG.
You will be looking for a color change or line in a window, depending on the brand of home pregnancy test you are using. If you are looking for a line and see a faint line, you should assume this is a positive result. False negatives are much more common than false positive results.
Getting a negative result doesn’t mean you aren’t pregnant. This is especially true if you are testing prior to a missed period. Wait a few days and repeat the test. If you get a faint positive, wait until morning and test again. I always buy the two test kits because I know I’ll want to double check the results and it’s cheaper to buy the double package.
Some brands are marketed as usable at any time of the day or night. It’s always best to use your first morning urine for home pregnancy tests. The level of hormone in your urine is more concentrated when you first wake up in the morning. Testing at this time of day will help you get a more accurate result.
If you have followed the directions and tested more than once and still have questions, you can often get help from the manufacturer. Major brands, such as EPT and first response offer customer service. You can call the toll free number on the package and ask any questions you may have about your results. If you are still not sure, call your doctor or midwife. You can have a test done in the office to confirm the results.
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