Pregnancy Tests: Knowing your pregnant without the assumptions

Having a baby is one of the blessings that one can have. While some may be quite sure to know that they are pregnant based on pregnancy symptoms and also on their own previous pregnancy experience(s), it would be wiser however, to know your exact condition clinically through pregnancy tests.

There are a number of pregnancy test kits that are sold out in the market and can be bought over-the-counter even without doctor's prescription. Many women resort to this method as this can be a cheaper means to know if you are pregnant. Nonetheless, there are some who question the reliability of the results, due to a few inconsistencies. But what are the other types of pregnancy tests and how it is being done?



There are two kinds of pregnancy tests, the urine at the blood tests.

Urine pregnancy test is the most common test being used by women because of its affordability and accessibility. This is the common application used by over-the-counter pregnancy test kits.

The pregnancy hormone detected in the urine tests is known as hCG. This stands for human chorionic gonadotrophin (www. pregnancybliss.com). Most common in home pregnancy test, a piece of rectangular object(see above image) is dropped with urine and the number of lines that appear becomes the indicator for the results (e.g. one line= negative; two lines= positive).

The blood pregnancy test on the otherhand, is being done by getting a few samples of blood and analyzing the hCG content. Blood tests are considered more accurate than urine tests as blood tests can can detect hCG levels as low as 1 mIU/mL, while urine tests have published detection thresholds of 20 mIU/mL to 100 mIU/mL, which also vary depending on the brand of the urine pregnancy kit.

You may miss one period, and if you are regular, it is advise that you consult your doctor for the accuracy of the results of pregnancy test.