When Can I Take a Pregnancy Test

If you don’t really know when to have a pregnancy test, the results will always be misleading. Following are some important pieces of information you always need to know so that the results will be trustworthy.

When is it the right time?

You better postpone the test as late as the menstrual period becomes due. Considering it too earlier could result in unreliable answers. In spite of all that, it is worthwhile to notice the women’s changing chemistry, i.e. egg fertilization in the uterus will always vary.

Now the idea that implantation occurs a week after conception is wrong. Research has uncovered that HCG, a pregnancy hormone, becomes visible 6 – 12 days after eggs have been formed. More than 80% of pregnancy implantation takes place about 10 days after ovulation.

Reliability of a Pregnancy Test:

No doubt, the accuracy of the result of a pregnancy test will be much dependent on the nature of test itself. The more susceptible it is, the more likely it is going to detect a pregnancy. It is a sensitive test that can identify low HCG easily. However, the magnitude of sensitivity varies from apparatus to apparatus used for the test.

Test result sensitivity may surprisingly range from 20 mIU to 250 mIU. Say you employ a tester with 20 mIU sensitivity; it may measure 8 days post ovulation pregnancy. Nevertheless, seeking a pregnancy test at such an early time hardly comes up with a ‘positive’ result. The best time recommended for the test is 10 days post ovulation.

Drawbacks of Early Tests

The idea, when to take a pregnancy test, is a matter of personal preference. Nevertheless, statistics have proved that abortive pregnancies usually end in miscarriages. Suppose that you test it a day before your period and it ends up positive. Now on account of its being too earlier, there is a considerable chance that you come up with your period.

The condition mentioned in the preceding lines may usher in an abortion and is very traumatic for women most of the times. A later test may lessen such miscarriages. So take a test 10 days post ovulation with 20 mIU tester to get accurate result.

Attaining Accuracy:

Establishing the right time for a pregnancy test is as important as having it conducted appropriately. Having done that you can expect accuracy to the tune of 97%. This, however, should be based on the supposition that the instructions are followed in letter and spirit irrespective of the kind of tester used.

If you proceed with taking the test when the period is late, oddity of a ‘false negative’ won’t be great. Keeping the above account in mind, it will be easy for you to take a pregnancy test.