All you need to do is just urine on the test stick ( or dip it into collected urine ) and wait respective minutes for your results. however, while home pregnancy tests are reasonably dim-witted to use, it ‘s very authoritative that you cautiously read the test directions. Accuracy depends on you correctly following the directions, including the timing of when to take the screen and how to interpret the results. Learn more about how to use a home pregnancy screen .
Reading: How to Use a Home Pregnancy Test
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illustration by Cindy Chung, Verywell
How Home Pregnancy Tests Work
pregnancy tests work by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin ( the pregnancy hormone ) in your urine. When a fertilized egg has implanted into your uterus, your body will begin to make human chorionic gonadotropin .
Most home plate pregnancy tests have about the same ability to detect hCG—they give a positivist result if your human chorionic gonadotropin flush is at least 20mIU ( mIU is a flat of measurement ). Some home pregnancy tests are a little bit more sensible and others a fiddling less. normally, the instructions tell you the sensitivity levels of the test .
When to Use a test
A good predominate of finger is to wait at approximately 21 days ( three weeks ) after you final had unprotected sex/birth control failure before using a home pregnancy test—or at least one day after a neglect period. On modal, 20mIU/hCG levels are present about seven to ten days past ovulation. During a typical hertz :
- Most people ovulate 14 or 15 days from the first day of their menstrual cycle.
- If the egg is not fertilized, then the next period should begin about 14 days after ovulation; these two 14-day spans make up a 28-day cycle.
- If the egg is fertilized, implantation generally happens at around 9 days (average 6 to 12 days) days after ovulation.
- Once implantation takes place, hCG will begin to be made (20 to 26 days into the cycle).
Before You Use a test
Take these steps to get a family pregnancy test and prepare to use it .
- Buy a test. When buying a home pregnancy test, some experts suggest that you purchase one from a large store that has a lot of product turnover. This way, you will be more likely to buy a newer test and not one that has been sitting on the shelves for months.
- Check the expiration date on the test and make sure it is still valid. If you bought the test awhile ago and have been storing it, especially in an area like a bathroom (where it gets warm or moist), make sure that it has not expired. If it has, buy a new one.
- Read all of the directions carefully (because they may be different for each pregnancy test brand). If you have any questions about how to perform the test or interpret the results, look for a toll-free number in the package instructions. You can call this number to have your questions answered.
- Gather your supplies. In addition to the test kit, you will need a watch or timer, a flat surface, and possibly a clean collection cup for urine.
How to Use a Home Pregnancy Test
Follow these tips on how to use a home pregnancy test. first, take your test beginning thing in the dawn. Your urine is more concentrate at this time. If you are pregnant, your first morning urine will have a higher total of human chorionic gonadotropin in it than make from later on in the day .
To begin, wash your hands with warmly urine and soap. Remove the pregnancy test from its foil wrapping. Depending on the finical family pregnancy test, you should pee in a collection cup or pee directly onto the pregnancy examination stand by. Some tests will give you the option to collect your urine either way .
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It is important to catch a “ midstream sample. ” This means that you should let out a short moment of peeing first, and then use the respite of your urine for the test .
- If the test requires you to pee directly onto the stick, place the side of the test stick with the absorbent tip in your urine stream with the result window facing up. Pee on it for about 5 to 10 seconds (or whatever time it says in the directions).
- If you have collected your urine in a cup, use the supplied dropper to place a small amount of pee in the testing well. If your test did not provide a dropper but said that you could use a collection cup, dip the absorbent end of the pregnancy test into the cup of pee and hold in place for 5 to 10 seconds (or whatever time it says in the directions).
Place the pregnancy testing perplex on a flat, dry open with the “ solution window ” facing up. The instructions will tell you how many minutes to wait for the results to appear. This can be anywhere from one minute to five minutes, though some base pregnancy tests can take up to 10 minutes to give you an accurate solution .
There will most likely be a “ control windowpane ” on the test arsenic well as a result window. You will credibly see the backdrop in the control window get black as the urine passes through. Most control windows will display a line or symbol to show that the test is valid. If this control indicator does not appear, chances are very probably that the trial is not valid or did not work by rights .
once the ask total of time has passed, you can check the results. Keep in thinker that different tests may display the results differently, so shuffle certain you read in the instructions what form or symbol you should be looking for. Examples include :
- A pink or blue line
- A red plus or minus sign
- A color change in the window or in the urine in the test
- The words “pregnant” or “not pregnant”
If any line, symbol, or sign shows up in the results window, no matter how faint, you can consider the base pregnancy test result to be positive. A line will not show up if the trial does not detect hCG—so evening the faintest cable means that the test has picked up on hCG in your make .
If you got a positive screen result on your home pregnancy test, it is authoritative that you make a medical appointment. Your doctor can confirm the result of your home pregnancy quiz and begin prenatal wish .
Your test solution is lone accurate if you see the indicator during the assign amount of time. If the instructions say to wait three minutes, whatever shows in the leave window after three minutes is your test resultant role. If the quiz sits for besides long, an vaporization line may appear. If any line, symbol, or sign shows up after the sum of time specified in the instructions, this is not considered a incontrovertible pregnancy test result.
If Your Test leave Is negative
If the home plate pregnancy test gives you a negative result, but you do not get your period, you should retest in 3 to 5 days. If you ovulated later in your cycle or did not by rights calculate your ovulation date, you may have taken the pregnancy test excessively soon to receive a incontrovertible screen resultant role .
Since the sum of human chorionic gonadotropin increases quickly when you are pregnant, you may end up with a positivist test just a few days after a veto one. This is why some home pregnancy test kits come with more than one test—so you have another one to re-test with.
If you took your test fewer than 7 days after your miss period, do not automatically believe that a negative test leave means that you are not meaning. You may have taken the home pregnancy trial excessively soon. Wait another workweek. If by that time you calm have not gotten your period and are still getting a negative test resultant role, you should make an appointment with your repair to figure out if something may be going on .
