How to Pick a Pregnancy Test Kit

Think you might be expecting? An in-home test kit will provide a prompt--and private--answer. These kits detect with 97 percent accuracy whether the "pregnancy" hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hGC), is present in a woman's urine. Most tests work in much the same way, but vary in sensitivity.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Buy an early-response kit to test on or before the first day of your missed period. The First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test is highly rated in consumer trials and gives an accurate result three days before your period is due. However, no test will pick up all pregnancies that early. You can expect a more reliable result a few days or even a week later, when the rapidly increasing hormone level is easier to detect.

2. Read the instructions. Some tests have you pass the stick through the urine stream, while with others you collect urine in a cup, then dip the stick. Many kits allow both and take five minutes or less--but they're the longest minutes of your life!

3. Make sure the result is easy to understand. Any line that appears on the absorbent wick inside the test stick should be strong and clear. If it's not, you'll need to wait a day or two and test again. Twin-packs are cheaper than buying two kits individually.

Tips & Warnings

• It's possible to get a false negative result when you're actually pregnant (positive). If your period does not start within a week, test yourself again. If pregnancy symptoms persist despite a second negative test, see your doctor.

[momandpopoften]

on 9/11/2009 Don't forget that you can get pregnancy tests online for PENNIES! I like the ones from www.AnotherBlessing.com. They are MORE sensitive than most OTC varieties (25mIU) and are 99% accurate.

[1citygirl]

on 8/18/2008 Here is a simple article on choosing the right pregnancy test for you that you might find interesting. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/803769/ept_pregnancy_tests_quickly_choosing.html?cat=52

[cherigirl29]

on 5/9/2008 The Dollar General store has $1 pregnancy tests that check for .25 miu of hCG..

[sassafrass74]

on 12/26/2006 Pregnancy kits vary substantially on how sensitive they are. They can very by hundreds of miu, the difference of about 10 days. Find out sooner (and waste less time and money worrying/waiting) by checking online for ones which detect lower amount of miu (not necessarily the ones which claim they are early detection.) Here is an list of early detection level kits:

Pregnancy Test Sensitivity

A woman "usually" produces 25 miu of hCG 10 days after conception.

1. Advance Preganancy and Fact Plus
Detects 250 miu's of hCG (this is not a typo!)
2. One Step Be Sure Pregnancy Test
Detects 25 miu's of hCG
3. Clear Blue Easy
Detects 50 miu's of hCG
4. Confirm 1-Step
She didn't have phone number, so couldn't confirm!
5. EPT
Detects 40 miu's of hCG
6. Selfcare Early Pregnancy Test
Detects 50 miu's of hCG
7. Precise and QTest
Didn't have any info yet.