Pregnancy Testing

Pregnancy Testing

What is a pregnancy test?

A pregnancy test is a medical test that determines if a woman is pregnant or not. There are two main types of pregnancy tests: at-home pregnancy tests and lab pregnancy tests.

At-home pregnancy tests can be bought at most pharmacies. They allow you to check if you are pregnant using a urine sample and can be taken anywhere. You don’t need a prescription for an at-home test.

The other type of pregnancy test is done in a lab and requires a blood sample. Usually, this type of test is prescribed by a physician and requires a visit to a doctor’s office, a clinic, or a hospital.

How does a pregnancy test work?

When a woman gets pregnant, her body starts experiencing many changes. Around 10 days after conception (when a sperm fertilizes an egg), the woman’s body will start producing a special chemical – human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG for short.

Often called the pregnancy hormone, hCG does several jobs – stopping periods, thickening the walls of the uterus, and ordering the production of important hormones like estrogen and progesterone.

High hCG levels in the body are a sure sign of pregnancy. A pregnancy test works by checking for the presence of this hormone, either in your urine or blood.

Are pregnancy tests accurate/reliable?

As hCG is a rare hormone only produced when you are pregnant, a positive pregnancy test is almost always accurate. At-home pregnancy tests that use urine are slightly less reliable than lab tests, but even they have around 99% accuracy.

With a blood test in a doctor’s office or clinic, the accuracy level can go above 99%. These tests can even tell you how far along you are in your pregnancy, based on the amount of hCG in your blood. But a lot depends on how early or late you take these tests.

In general, all pregnancy tests are reliable, as long as you take them at the right time.

When is the right time to take a pregnancy test?

A woman’s body will only start producing hCG around 10 days after successful conception. If you take a test a few days or even a week after having unprotected sex, there will not be enough hCG in your system to produce a positive result.

This is why early pregnancy tests are often inaccurate. The best time to take a home pregnancy test is several days after a missed period. Taking a test immediately after a missed period leaves a chance of getting a false negative result.

If you had unprotected sex very early in your cycle, you may not want to wait for a missed period as that can take anywhere from 21–40 days. In that case, you can take a pregnancy test two weeks after your unprotected sexual intercourse.

As for the best time of the day to take a pregnancy test, it depends on several factors. If you are taking a urine test, the early morning gives you the best chance of accurate results. With a blood pregnancy test, you can get accurate results at any time of the day.

How long should you wait after a negative test before a retest?

Sometimes, if you take a very early test, it may tell you that you are not pregnant. Yet you may still feel some of the early pregnancy symptoms – tender breasts, cramps, spotting (light bleeding), morning sickness, and tiredness.

If you still suspect that you are pregnant, it is best to wait a few days before taking another test. Your body will take a few days to build up enough hCG to show up in a pregnancy test. If you continue experiencing symptoms after multiple negative results, consult a doctor immediately.

Visit VNA Health Care for Free Pregnancy Testing Today

Even if you have already received a positive result with an at-home test, you will need blood tests from a lab to apply for insurance or Medicaid benefits. At VNA Health Care, we offer pregnancy tests free of cost to all our patients. You do not need insurance coverage to qualify for free pregnancy testing and you can walk in without an appointment or make an early morning, daytime, evening, or weekend appointment at your convenience. Once your results are received, your VNA doctor or nurse practitioner will contact you to review your results and, if the test is positive, begin setting up your prenatal visits. VNA Health Care provides pregnancy and delivery services including care from our team of highly-skilled obstetricians, Women’s Health Nurse practitioners and nurses; prenatal services and prenatal classes; midwife and doula services; home visiting; and ultrasounds. Visit your nearest VNA Health Care Center today!