One of the most reliable and commonest ways of spotting pregnancy in women is skipped menstruation period. These may be usually followed by nausea, sickness, breasts getting larger and tender with veins becoming more visible and nipples getting dark and stiff. A few might even feel constipated and have frequent vaginal discharge. However, without jumping over board, it’s always advisable to have a word with your doctor to have it confirmed. Again, if you wish to stay back at home and get it done, you do get a vista of options. Let’s have a look at some of the pregnancy tests you can carry out yourself at home.
Modes for Pregnancy Test
Basically, there are two different mode of carrying out the pregnancy test.
1. The simplest and the most common that are followed since years are with the help of a test drip stick. The strip is held along the stream of passing urine or might also be dipped in the urine sample. If the extreme end of the stick changes color that generally happens due to the presence of HCG indicates pregnancy.
2. The second mode of detecting pregnancy is done with the help of urine collected in a cup and test device. One needs to urinate in the cup with the device laid there. The device changes color if it comes in contact with HCG that signifies pregnancy.
Home Pregnancy test kits in India
Home pregnancy test kits are available in every chemist and medical store you come across. In India, there are around five pregnancy test kits in general and popular usage.
a. Velocit by Dr. Reddy’s
b. PregColor Card
c. ClearView
d. Cadila’s Accutest
e. Acon Kit
DIY Method for basic urine pregnancy test
You can also carry out the basic urine pregnancy test at home as well. Let’s have a look
1. All you need is a clean, hygienic and dry plastic or glass container. Before collecting your urine sample, check the container for any leftover residues of soap or detergent.
2. To make the process easier, you can use the dropper provided along with the kit. Take couple of urine drops and drip it down on the test kit provided.
3. Be careful of spilling urine on the strip while dropping urine sample in the testing well. At the same time, closely follow through instructions written on the test kit to get a better idea of the waiting time.
4. Pay special attention towards the waiting period. You need to be pretty conscious about this part since pre mature checking or even delayed check might reveal incorrect result.
Things to Watch out For
The DIY urine pregnancy tests is considered to be one of the most sensitive that can deliver the result even if you missed the first day of your menstrual period.
1. Since there are high probabilities of the result not pointing towards pregnancy, it’s recommended to go for the test after 72 hours, even if the first test reveals a negative result.
2. There are certain medicines that lead to a ‘false’ positive test results. These mainly include infertility medicines that contain HCG. Always keep tracks of popping such stuffs before going for the test.
3. In order to get accurate and pin point results, it’s recommended to go for the test with the urine sample drawn of empty stomach. Again, accuracy also depends on several other factors.
4. A woman undergoes change in her ovulation cycle every month and details regarding exact import of fertilized egg are not yet known. Also, test kits have a different level of sensitivity to human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). That’s why samples taken during morning are considered to be best for detection due to their low test sensitivity.
5. Once you are done with the test, watch out for pink and purple band in C and T regions that indicates a positive pregnancy result. If you get to notice only one band in the C region with T region appearing blank, the test result denotes negativity. Again, if T band turns up quite feeble, you need to go for the test again after 72 hours since it has imparted unconvincing results.
How reliable is it
Since the entire procedure is carried out in home, chances are there of deriving fluctuating results. Often it has been reported, those who found either positive or negative test results had to face disappointed after their results varied after 72 hours. Test kits, though widely available in market are tad expensive and doubts have always been raised regarding women getting used to its proper utility. Apart from that, the conventional home testing methods require a considerable degree of knowledge about kits among women. It’s highly recommended for women to go for detailed medical tests, even if her DIY results were decisive. Home test procedure should be taken as a stop gap method and not something worth conclusive.
