At-home pregnancy tests are 99% accurate when you use them correctly. Most incorrect results stem from how someone takes or reads the test, not from a defect in the test itself. However, defective and expired tests can happen.
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Here are the most common mistakes made during pregnancy testing and how to avoid them.
1. Testing Before a Missed Period
This mistake causes more false-negative pregnancy tests than any other.
Home tests look for human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a hormone your body makes in high levels during pregnancy. Your body ramps up production after the embryo implants in the wall of the uterus, which happens roughly six to twelve days after ovulation. Before that point, your body has not made enough hCG, so the test returns a negative result.
Wait until the day after you have missed your period to take your first pregnancy test.
If your cycles are irregular, you may not know when you missed your period. In that case, count roughly three weeks from the last time you had sex before you test.
2. Drinking Too Much Water Before
Chugging water might sound reasonable for producing a urine sample, but it hurts the test’s accuracy.
Extra fluid dilutes your urine, which lowers the amount of hCG the test can detect. A test that would have caught the hormone at 8 a.m. may miss it after two bottles of water later in the day. Test first thing in the morning, before you drink anything.
3. Skipping the Instructions
Every brand works a little differently. One test requires five seconds in a urine stream, and some strips need a dipping cup. Some show two lines; some show a plus sign; some spell out the word.
Nerves can make you feel like rushing. Instead, carefully read the insert before you open the wrapper, and begin testing.
4. Reading the Result at the Wrong Moment
Every test provides a reading window, typically 3 to 5 minutes. Reading outside this window can result in an inaccurate answer.
Read the result too early, and the line may not have developed yet. Read it an hour later, and you may see an evaporation line, a faint gray or colorless streak that appears as the urine dries on the strip. An evaporation line is not a positive result.
Set a timer on your phone. Read the result when the timer goes off, then throw the test away.
5. Using an Expired or Poorly Stored Test
Check the date stamped on the box. The chemicals used to detect hCG break down over time, so an older test may not be accurate.
Heat and humidity also accelerate the breakdown of chemicals. A test that spent a Florida summer in your glove compartment or a steamy bathroom cabinet may not work correctly either.
What to Do Next
If your at-home test came back positive, your next step is an ultrasound. An ultrasound shows how far along you are and whether the pregnancy is growing in the uterus. It can also reveal an early miscarriage. No urine test tells you any of that, and each of those answers changes what you do next.
If you are not sure whether that positive result on your pregnancy test is correct, come see us. We will provide a medical-grade pregnancy test and give you an answer the same day.
Choices Family Resource Centers provide both services at no cost. Everything stays confidential.
You can find us in Avon Park, Lake Placid, Sebring, and Wauchula.
Schedule an appointment and get an answer you can trust.