Most Accurate Pregnancy Test

Home pregnancy tests are one of the most common methods of detecting pregnancy at an early stage. These tests are of great help to couples who are trying to conceive as they can produce reliable results at a very early stage. Thus, you can start with prenatal care at the very beginning of your pregnancy, if the test comes out positive. If it doesn't, you can resume your efforts or try a different fertility treatment. There are innumerable brands of home pregnancy tests, all of which claim to be 99% accurate. However, accuracy of a home pregnancy test is a controversial topic as there are many factors involved in finding its accuracy.

Most Accurate Pregnancy Test Before Missed Period

All the pregnancy detection tests available in the market have a similar working mechanism. They detect the presence of a hormone named Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone is secreted by the placenta after the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterus. During the initial days of pregnancy, levels of hCG are very low, about 5 mIU/ml. Such low levels cannot be detected on any of the pregnancy test kits that are currently available. These kits can pick up hCG levels that are above 25 mIU/ml. However, for the hCG to reach that level, you may have to wait until a week after your missed period. Thus, if you are interested in getting the results before you miss your period, none of the tests available can be of any help to you. In that case, you will have to rely on a blood test, which is the earliest pregnancy test. It can be performed either at your doctor's office or a laboratory.

Most Accurate Test Over the Counter

Most of the pregnancy tests available over the counter are capable of producing 90 to 99% accurate results one week after your missed period. As the time progresses, the accuracy of these kits improves significantly. This is because the hormone hCG goes on doubling every 2 days during the initial days of your pregnancy. Hence, if you do a pregnancy test at a very early stage, it is likely to come negative. In that case, you should repeat the test in a few days time, so that the hCG levels rise sufficiently enough to be detected on the test kit. Also, make it a point to perform the test with the first morning urine, since it is highly concentrated and has maximum level of hCG. Besides, it is also very important to follow the instructions mentioned on the package to the word. Most tests have an indicator for an invalid test, if you happen to mess up with the instructions.

Out of the many brands of home pregnancy tests such as First Response, ClearBlue Easy, Answer, hCG, Babycheck, Surecheck, Predictor, Accuclear, Persona, Ovatel etc., First Response Early Result is the best pregnancy test as it produces the most accurate results. This fact was established by a research conducted by University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. First Response Early Result gave an accuracy of 95% after two days of missed period. ClearBlue Easy came next with an accuracy of about 80%. The other tests could prove accurate pregnancy test results only in 16% of the cases tested. However, if you wait until a week after your missed period, the brand of the test kit wouldn't matter much, as you would anyway get an accurate result.

Now that you know about the most accurate pregnancy test, choosing the right one shouldn't be a problem. However, make sure you follow everything on the package in order to avoid disappointments due to wrong results.