What is the best time to take a pregnancy test?
Both when the menstruation is delayed for several days, and when it is in the search for a baby, the use of a pregnancy test It is always surrounded by fear, insecurity and, above all, many questions. It is usually a moment of tension, of nervousness, not only before performing it but while you do it, and above all, a few minutes later when we wait for the result of the test.
And it is that while we wait for the results the doubts always tend to be the same: will it be positive? Am I really pregnant? The nervousness can be even greater when you are in search of a pregnancy that does not arrive, especially when you have already done a pregnancy test that has been negative.
Be that as it may, the truth is that, in most cases, the statistics say that many women are taking the pregnancy test too early. Although today there are digital pregnancy tests capable of even detecting the conception just a day after the delay, in many cases it may be too early. Therefore, we explain what is really the best time to do it without having doubts that the result may or may not be real.
What is a pregnancy test and how does it work?
A pregnancy test is a test that measures the hormone beta hCG in order to diagnose whether or not there is a pregnancy in progress. This is because this hormone begins to be produced by the cells of the embryo immediately after conception has occurred.
It is medically known by the name of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, and is produced by pregnant women from the moment the embryo begins to evolve. It is common for this hormone to appear mostly around the tenth day of pregnancy.
We must bear in mind that this hormone tends to double its value every two days, but from the moment in which the implantation of the embryo occurs in the maternal uterus its quantities are very small, and can not be measured by the pregnancy tests in the maternal urine
When should the pregnancy test be done so that its result is safe?
For all this, it may be the case that the result of the pregnancy test is not real when it is done too early. It is what is known as a false negative, so the test is negative when in reality it can happen that the woman is pregnant.
That is, conception has occurred and the embryo has been able to implant in the uterus, but even the beta hCG values are too low to be detected by a urine pregnancy test.
When to get a home pregnancy test (or urine pregnancy test)
In the case of a urine pregnancy test (ie, the usual home pregnancy test that we buy in pharmacies), it is common to have a sensitivity of between 25 to 50 mUI / ml of beta-hCG hormone, with a reliability of 95-98%. So they are able to detect levels of this hormone above this value.
In this sense, it is possible to perform the pregnancy test from the moment of embryo implantation. That is, between 3 and 12 days after having ovulated. But nevertheless, it is possible that the result of the test is not effective or reliable, especially when it is done before the first lack of menstruation, since it may be possible that the presence of the hCG is still small.
In these cases, when the first pregnancy test has been carried out too soon (before the first offense), and a few days later the menstruation has not yet arrived, a second test is appropriate. If the second pregnancy test is positive, and the first test was negative, it means that the levels of the hCG hormone have not increased sufficiently.
So, it is best to wait 3 days after menstruation delay, so that the reliability of the pregnancy test is the most accurate, and therefore the result is as reliable as possible. However, depending on the pregnancy test you use, it is possible to perform the test just 1 day after the first delay, with a reliability that could reach 95%.
And when to take the blood pregnancy test?
It is medically known by the name of Quantitative blood test of HCG, which measures the specific level of human chorionic gonadotropin in blood, which as we have said is produced in the body during pregnancy.
It is without a doubt a more sensitive and accurate analysis than the urine pregnancy test, with a sensitivity and reliability of around 100%. In fact, it is able to detect pregnancy even one week after ovulation, and it can be performed 10 days after the probable ovulation date. This article is published for informational purposes only. It can not and should not replace the consultation with a Physician. We advise you to consult your Trusted Doctor. ThemesConception
