Whether you are anticipating a pregnancy or not, a pregnancy test kit is the first thing you want to have when you miss your periods. So how do home pregnancy test kits work? When should you take a home pregnancy test? And how much does it cost? If you plan on taking a home pregnancy test, here is how you should go about it.
What Is A Home Pregnancy Test Kit?
Simple, easy, quick, reliable and a private way to know whether you have conceived or not. A home pregnancy test kit saves one a lot of time and money. Essentially, it carries a stick on which you need to put drops of your urine to know whether there is a baby inside or not. Home pregnancy test come in the traditional two lie version or the digital one. Keep reading further to know about the most popular home pregnancy test kits in the market.
How Does A Pregnancy Test Kit Work?
When you get pregnant, your body produces the pregnancy hormone, the hCG. Pregnancy test kits work by detecting the presence of hCG in urine and confirming a pregnancy. hCG is released the moment you conceive, but the volume is so low that it cannot be detected immediately. The more sensitive the pregnancy test kit, the earlier it can detect the presence of hCG. Some kits claims to detect the hCG as early as 5 days before your period’s due date. Pregnancy test kits are for sure a hit with those expecting the ‘bun in the oven’!
Further, it has been observed that in early days, the concentration of hCG in the urine is the highest in the early morning first pee of the day. Hence to get accurate results, it is suggested to use the pregnancy test kit for the first morning pee.
What Are The Popular Pregnancy Test Kits Available?
Whether you choose a digital or the usual two line pregnancy test kit, you should read the instructions carefully and follow them. Below are common and popular home pregnancy test kits currently doing the rounds in the market:
1. First Response Gold Pregnancy Test Kit
A digital pregnancy test kit, First Response Gold Pregnancy Test claims to detect a pregnancy as early as 5 days before a missed period.
How To Use It: Pee and wait for 3 minutes. The screen pops with a “Yes” if you are pregnant and “No” if you aren’t. A question mark pops up in case there has been an error.
How Accurate Is It: Manufacturers claim it is 60% accurate 5 days before a missed period, and 99% accurate if taken a day before.
Cost: A First Response Gold Pregnancy Test Kit costs around $20 for a pack of 2 tests.
2. Wondfo Pregnancy Test Strips
Very economical and simple, the Wondfo pregnancy test strips have nothing fancy to them. They are offered in a pack of 50, so you can go about using them without burning a hole in your pocket.
How To Use It: Pee in a cup and dip the strip into it. Wait for 5 minutes. A single line indicates that you are not pregnant and if two line appear, there is something cooking up inside.
How Accurate Is It: Wondfo pregnancy test strips are more accurate one day after missing a period, though some women claim it is accurate even 8-10 days post ovulation.
Cost: They cost just $19 for a pack of 50 strips
3. Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test With Smart Countdown
This is a digital pregnancy test that carries a progress bar that lets you know that testing is in progress.
How To Use It: To confirm a pregnancy using the Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test, you need to pee of the wide tip and wait for the result. A progress bar can be seen which implies that testing is underway. When done, the screen reads “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”. Now, it cannot get easier than this, can it?
How Accurate Is It: The test is about 51% accurate 4 days before your period is due, though the accuracy jumps to 95% one day before the date. On the date of expected period, it is as much as 99% accurate.
Cost: A Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test With Smart Countdown costs around $23 for a pack of 5.
4. First Response Early Result
First response early result is a standard test strip that works on the traditional one line means “not pregnant” and two lines mean “pregnant” concept. It is shown to be more sensitive than others, claims a 2005 University of Mexico study.
How To Use It: You need to pee on the stick, or you can hold it under your urine stream for just 5 seconds. Wait for 3 minutes and appearance of two pink lines indicate a pregnancy, while a single one indicates you are not pregnant.
How Accurate Is It: It claims an efficacy of 76% 5 days before missing a period, which is actually pretty high. And the accuracy multiplies when taken a day before or on the day of missed period.
Cost: You can get a pack of 2 of First Response Early Result in about $16
5. Accu-Clear Early Pregnancy Test
Again, a standard test strip, the Accu-Clear Early Pregnancy Test comes with an abbreviated version of the instructions on the back side of the kit.
How To Use It: You can either hold the strip under your urine stream or pour urine sample from a cup for just 5 seconds. A 3 minutes wait will give you the result – a pink line, even if faint, meaning you are pregnant. No line means you need to try again or you are not pregnant.
How Accurate Is It: It claims 99% accuracy if tested on the day when your periods are due.
Cost: Accu-Clear Early Pregnancy Test costs about $ 15.75 for a pack of two strips.
6. e.p.t Certainty Pregnancy Test
A digital pregnancy test, e.p.t. Certainty Pregnancy Test comes with an easy to read “Pregnant” and “Not Pregnant” result.
How To Use It: Just like the others, you need to sample your wee on it. It takes about 3 minutes for the results to display, and an hourglass symbol appears when the test is in progress. When you have done something wrong, it flashes a book symbol.
Cost: $22 approximately for a pack of two e.p.t Certainty Pregnancy Tests.
7. New Choice Pregnancy Test Strips
Many women often find this Dollar store product much better than the costly, pricier and fancier pregnancy test kits. It is quite a hit because it is easily available at stores, and is quite cheap.
How To Use It: It comes with a dropper, which can be used to pour pee on the stick after collecting it in a cup or a beaker. Appearance of two lines indicate a pregnancy whereas a single line means you are not pregnant. Though it uses the conventional method of dropping drops of urine on the space provided, it still is a popular choice.
How Accurate Is It: Now the test claims to be 99% accurate but there is no official saying as to which day yields the best results. Nevertheless, it is often used repeatedly because it is not as expensive as others.
Cost: Available at Dollar Tree Stores for just $1 each.
