The Best Pregnancy Test

Buying Guide

If you’re wondering whether you’re pregnant, you’re likely filled with worry, anxiety and nerves. Using an accurate and effective home pregnancy test at the right time can help you get the answers you need fast.

Your body starts producing hCG, a pregnancy hormone, when the egg is first fertilized. Your hCG levels will begin to double every few days during the first few weeks of your pregnancy. A home pregnancy test is designed to look for how much hCG is showing up in your urine. Because your hCG levels double every few days, the pregnancy test is most accurate if you wait longer to take it. If you take it too early in your pregnancy, your hCG levels may not be high enough to register in the test. Most home pregnancy tests recommend that you take the pregnancy test the day after your expected period is supposed to begin. Some home pregnancy tests on the market can detect hCG levels a few days before your period as well. If you missed your period, have sore breasts, are unusually tired, incredibly hungry and are feeling sick in the mornings, it’s possible you could be pregnant.

There are two main ways you can take a home pregnancy test. For some, you will need to urinate directly on to the test strip. For others, you will need to urinate in a clean cup and dip the test strip in it. When taking a pregnancy test, it’s important to follow the instructions carefully so you get an accurate result. Keep in mind that if you wait too long to read the results of your test, they may no longer be accurate.

• If you’re trying to get pregnant, consider getting a pregnancy test kit which also includes an ovulation kit. An ovulation test helps you know when your body is ovulating by measuring your luteinizing hormone. A day or two before you ovulate, these hormones rise. As a result, you can determine when you are ovulating. You will need to urinate into a cup and then dip in an ovulation test strip to get a result.
• Consider whether you want just a few pregnancy tests or if you want to have several. Some kits will come with three or five pregnancy tests, while others can include up to 20 pregnancy test strips.
• Some pregnancy tests need to be used the day after your missed period would have started. However, if you don’t want to wait that long, there are now pregnancy tests that can be used five or six days before your expected period, so you can have results much sooner.
• How do you want to read the results? Some pregnancy tests show a positive or negative sign depending on the results, while others actually show the words “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant.” For some people, this makes the experience more meaningful. Other tests show lines that you have to read against a rubric to learn whether you’re pregnant or not pregnant.
• For some pregnancy tests, you need to urinate in a cup and dip in a test strip, while for others you have to urinate directly on to the test strip. This can be difficult for some people. Look for a pregnancy test that has an extra-wide tip, which makes it easier to urinate on.