According to a survey of women who have tried several types of tests for rapid diagnosis of pregnancy, the best is a conventional test strip with a sensitivity of 20-25 mIU/ml. Below we will answer pressing questions and figure out which manufacturer produces the best pregnancy test among all the variety on the pharmaceutical market.

How does a pregnancy test work?

A pregnancy test, regardless of brand and type, is aimed at determining the level of human chorionic gonadotropin (or hCG for short) in a woman’s urine.

Human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone produced by the chorion, the membrane of the embryo that will later become the placenta. Therefore, this hormone is also called the “pregnancy hormone”.

In a non-pregnant woman, the hCG level is in the range of 0-5 mU/ml.

Thus, if this hormone is detected in a woman’s urine in an amount of 25 mU/ml or more, then two red or bright pink lines will appear on the indicator strip, one in the control area and the other in the test area, which indicates pregnancy.

What types of pregnancy tests are there?

Pregnancy tests are distinguished by type (or design) and sensitivity.

So, by type, tests are divided into:

• test strips (or strip tests)– represent a strip that must be lowered to a certain level in a container with morning urine;
• tablet (or test cassettes)– the test is in a plastic case with a window into which you need to drop a few drops of urine using a special pipette, which is included in the kit;
• jet (or test midstream)– a device that is placed under a stream of running urine (i.e. there is no need to first collect urine in a separate container for further testing);
• electronic (or digital)- a new generation test that shows not only whether a woman is pregnant or not, but also the number of weeks of “interesting situation” - 1-2 weeks, 2-3 weeks or more than 3 weeks (such tests are even reusable, i.e. included in the kit there are removable test cartridges);
• tank test systems- the rarest type of pregnancy test, which is a glass for collecting urine with a test strip built into the side, which itself absorbs the required amount of liquid.

According to the degree of sensitivity, pregnancy tests are divided into those that are able to recognize hCG in a woman’s urine at a level of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 mIU/ml. This will be their sensitivity.

So, for early diagnosis of pregnancy, you need to buy a pregnancy test at the pharmacy with a sensitivity of 10 mIU/ml. Such a test can detect a long-awaited pregnancy already 7-10 days after ovulation (DPO).

Please note that hCG begins to be released in the urine of a pregnant woman after implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterine wall, but not yet in sufficient quantities for the test to react.

It is necessary to wait another day or two after the implantation of the fertilized egg into the wall of the uterus, but no doctor can say in absentia exactly when fertilization and the implantation itself occurred.

Therefore, no one will answer you how much longer to wait before the required concentration of hCG in the urine occurs, because this is a purely individual moment, so if the second strip appears only slightly, then the test must be repeated every other day, and if it is not yet visible at all, then after three. four days.

A pregnancy test with a higher number of mIU/ml on the package indicates a lower degree of sensitivity.

However, there is an opinion that all tests are the same in sensitivity, i.e. all of them are able to indicate the onset of pregnancy only when the concentration of hCG in the urine is within 25 mU/ml or more, and the high sensitivity of the test, as stated by the manufacturer, is just a marketing ploy that helps dishonest entrepreneurs make money on women’s weaknesses.

When to take a pregnancy test?

A pregnancy test with a sensitivity of 15 mIU/ml can be done no earlier than 10-12 DPO, i.e. 2-3 days before the expected period, but it all depends on when fertilization occurred and the attachment of the fertilized egg to the wall of the uterus.

No one can know exactly when the sperm met the egg and when the fertilized egg descended through the fallopian tubes into the uterine cavity.

Therefore, for some, tests showed pregnancy as if a week before the expected period, although in fact they simply ovulated earlier than expected, which means that fertilization could also have occurred earlier than expected, because everything is individual for each woman.

Are pregnancy tests wrong?

Tests for home pregnancy diagnosis do not provide a complete guarantee of the correctness of the result obtained. There is a 2-5% chance of getting a false answer if you follow all the rules for conducting the test stated in the instructions.

A woman may get a negative result and actually be pregnant if:

• the test was performed too early (the concentration of hCG in the urine has not yet reached the diagnostic level);
• the test was performed using not the first morning urine (the level of hCG in early pregnancy is already insignificant, and in daytime or evening urine its concentration is generally negligible even for the appearance of a barely noticeable second strip);
• there are kidney diseases when the concentration of hCG in the urine does not increase during pregnancy (with such diseases, pregnancy can be determined in the early stages only by donating blood for hCG);
• there is a pathology of pregnancy or its course (with ectopic pregnancy, threat of miscarriage, weak attachment of the fetus to the wall of the uterus, placental insufficiency);
• on the eve of the pregnancy test, a large amount of water was drunk (the liquid dilutes the urine, making it less concentrated in hCG content);
• diuretics were taken shortly before the pregnancy test;
• The pregnancy test has expired.

You can get a positive result in the absence of pregnancy in reality if:

• taking medications that contain the hCG hormone (for example, when stimulating ovulation with the drugs pregnyl, ovitrel, choragon, prophase, etc.);
• the presence of hCG-secreting neoplasms (tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, kidneys, uterus, etc.);
• trophoblastic diseases (hydatidiform mole, uterine chorionepithelioma);
• Spontaneous miscarriage, early abortion, or removal of the fertilized egg during an ectopic pregnancy, the “pregnancy hormone” remains in the woman’s body for some time.

Note!

If there is no mandatory strip in the control area or if there are no stripes at all after the test, the pregnancy test is considered unsuitable for use. Repeat rapid diagnosis with a new pregnancy test.

If there are two lines on the test, you should undergo an ultrasound of the pelvic organs to confirm the uterine attachment of the fertilized egg.

If there is one line on the test, but if there is a long delay in menstruation (more than 7-10 days), you should donate blood for hCG and undergo an ultrasound. This set of measures can accurately confirm or refute pregnancy.

If the first time the test showed pregnancy, and after a while, having done the test again, it was already negative and/or menstruation began, then there was most likely a pregnancy, but it ended in a spontaneous miscarriage. This happens in 30% of cases, and women do not even realize that there was a pregnancy. This is how “natural selection” occurs: the weak die, and the strong survive.

Delayed menstruation, enlarged and painful breasts, nausea and dizziness, frequent urination, increased fatigue and irritability, changes in taste preferences and aversion to certain smells are not yet a sign of pregnancy. Often a woman, who really wants to get pregnant or, on the contrary, is worried that she has gotten pregnant, feels all the signs of pregnancy, but in fact there is no pregnancy. The reason is in our female psyche, and this phenomenon is called “false pregnancy.”

What is the most accurate and best pregnancy test?

To answer this question, 100 girls of childbearing age were specifically interviewed who had ever used a pregnancy test in their lives, and votes in forum comments for one or another pregnancy test manufacturer were counted.
Let us summarize the results of the survey. The best pregnancy test is Clearblue (Clearblue), UK.

Clearblue is the best among pregnancy tests

The manufacturer offers several types of inkjet tests: Clearblue Compact (a regular inkjet test in a thin, elegant body reminiscent of a ballpoint pen) and Clearblue Plus (a convenient curved design with a wide tip that changes color from white to pink if the urine is collected correctly).

Clearblue Compact costs from 80 rubles (23 UAH) per piece, Clearblue Plus from 130 rubles (38 UAH) per piece, and Clearblue Digital from 250 rubles (72 UAH).

The digital (electronic) test Clearblue Digital was recognized as the best.

The advantage of the Clearblue Digital pregnancy test is that:

• the accuracy of the result is 99% when used from the first day of missed menstruation;
• this test can be started 4 days before the start of your expected period;
• it is hygienic to use (there is no need to collect urine in a container for testing);
• After the test, there are no doubts and an incomprehensible situation in deciphering the result, everything is clear - either there is a pregnancy or there is not. The ghost strip, which would be a confirmation of pregnancy in the test strip, will be displayed in Clearblue as a positive result.

A false positive result in 95% of cases indicates a failed pregnancy, which ended in spontaneous miscarriage.

A false negative result indicates that the pregnancy was diagnosed too early (the time of fertilization or ovulation was not correctly determined).

The test strip for determining pregnancy of the Evitest brand (Evitest), Germany, was named publicly affordable and the favorite in terms of the accuracy of the results obtained (compared to other similar tests).

Evitest - an affordable and good pregnancy test

This company has produced three types of pregnancy tests: strip test, cassette test and inkjet test.

Evitest One (pink pack with 1 test strip) costs about 52 rubles (15 UAH), but you can find it cheaper. Evitest Plus (blue pack with 2 test strips) - about 83 rubles (24 UAH), Evitest Proof (tablet) - about 110 rubles (32 UAH), and Evitest Perfect (inkjet) - about 138 rubles (40 UAH).

They all differ in price and method of use, but all three types of tests have an undeniable disadvantage - the result can be interpreted differently: some see a barely noticeable second line, others do not; some doubted the positive meaning of the ghost stripe, while others did not.

A digital pregnancy test is more accurate in such situations, which makes it a leader among the variety of existing pregnancy tests.

Happy testing!!!

Pregnancy tests for home use sold in any pharmacy differ not only in cost, but also in the method of taking the test itself, and most importantly, in the level of sensitivity.

Home pregnancy tests determine the result based on the level of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, produced only during pregnancy) in the urine. This hormone is produced by the chorion (the membrane of the embryo) after it is fixed in the uterine cavity. From this moment, the concentration of hCG in the woman’s urine begins to increase, and the quality and sensitivity of the test determines when you can get an accurate answer whether pregnancy has occurred.

The sensitivity of pregnancy tests is marked with numbers 10, 20, 25, 30, which corresponds to the concentration of hCG in urine in mIU/ml (international units per ml) that they are able to detect. The lower the number, the higher the sensitivity of the test and its accuracy.

Before missed period

The most sensitive and most expensive tests recognize the appearance of a baby even before the expected date of the onset of menstruation - already seven to ten days from the moment of expected conception. Read the information on the package carefully; the sensitivity of such a test should be 10 mIU/ml. As a rule, inkjet tests have the desired characteristics.

A blood test for hCG is another way to find out about early pregnancy. On the 12th day after the date of expected conception (that is, with a long cycle even before the delay), based on the results of this analysis, it will already be possible to say whether pregnancy has occurred in this cycle or not, and to accurately name the due date. The presence of hCG in the blood can be determined earlier - already on the seventh day after conception, however, the results may be inaccurate and the blood will need to be taken again a week later to confirm them.

When choosing the time to take a pregnancy test, keep in mind that the hCG blood test is best taken in the morning on an empty stomach. If you come in the afternoon, be prepared to not eat for four to six hours before your blood is drawn. It is also recommended to avoid physical activity before the procedure. If you are taking any hormonal medications, discuss this with your doctor before donating blood.

First or third day of delay

Most home tests have a sensitivity of 20–25 mIU/ml and provide accurate results from the first day of a missed period. It is useless to use such a pregnancy test when it is too early to do it - the answer will be negative, even if pregnancy has actually occurred.

Fourth to seventh day of delay

A definite answer can be obtained after a significant delay in menstruation. At this time, any test, if it is working properly, will show an accurate result. It is worth considering that with the help of a home test you can only determine the presence or absence of pregnancy, and its exact duration can only be determined by taking a blood test for hCG.

What time to take a pregnancy test

It is better to take a home pregnancy test in the morning, when the concentration of the hCG hormone in the urine is maximum.

If it is more convenient for you to take a pregnancy test in the evening, be sure to choose the most sensitive jet test, for which the exact time of the test is not of serious importance.

There is hardly a woman who will remain indifferent to a delay in menstruation even for a couple of days. Excitement may be joyful for some, anxious for others, but it always raises the question: “What to do? Should I go to the doctors or wait a little?”

A visit to a specialist after a short delay will most likely not clarify the situation. It is unlikely that a doctor will be able to diagnose such a short period of pregnancy. The solution is to go to the pharmacy and buy a simple, inexpensive and understandable home test to identify an interesting situation.

The sensitivity of pregnancy tests in their simplest form is such that they can most likely determine your condition already on 2-3 days of delay. It is suitable for any woman, regardless of age and physical condition. To use it, no additional consultation is required; everything will be clear after reading the instructions.

Precautionary measures

The annotation for the product will describe what you should not do before the study, when it is best to conduct it, and what accessories you need to stock up on. The main conditions are usually:

1. Availability of a clean container for the material being tested.
2. It is not advisable to take diuretic medications before the procedure; the result may be distorted.
3. The required examination time is morning (for certain types of tests).

It is worth considering the fact that when using birth control pills or, conversely, undergoing a course of therapy for infertility, the test may also be unreliable.

How it works?

It is produced in the female body during pregnancy. In normal conditions, it is absent in a healthy person. Exceptions are women with hormonal tumors. The test diagnoses the presence of hCG in the blood. Produced by the placenta, the hormone can be detected as early as a week.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any other, such products are endowed with both positive and negative qualities.

Advantages:

• complete anonymity;
• elementary procedure;
• sensitivity allows it to be determined at a minimum period, even before the delay of critical days.

Flaws:

• does not indicate whether the pregnancy is intrauterine or ectopic;
• a false result is possible, usually due to poor-quality, expired tests;
• high cost of some models.

Factors affecting cost

A pregnancy test, the price of which should not be very low, must have a good shelf life so that there is no doubt about the reliability of the obtained indicator. Its cost is primarily influenced by such factors as sensitivity, as well as its type (generation) and the manufacturing company.

What is sensitivity

If a woman wants to determine possible conception as early as possible, she should purchase a test with higher sensitivity. What is the difference between ultrasensitive systems and conventional ones, and how to choose the one you need?

The amount of hCG that a single test can detect determines the sensitivity of pregnancy tests. Their number increases with each passing day after fertilization. The sooner you want to find out about such an important condition for you, the lower the mIU/ml indicator should be indicated on the test box; accordingly, the higher the number, the lower the sensitivity of the product.

Current sensitivity levels

Tests come with the following indicators: 30 mIU\ml, 25 mIU\ml, 20 mIU\ml, 15 mIU\ml, 10 mIU\ml.

A pregnancy test (sensitivity 10) will be able to determine the lowest level of human chorionic gonadotropin in the body of the expectant mother.

Types of products and their labeling

Currently, they produce 3 versions of tests to detect early pregnancy. They differ in quality, manufacturing form, price, and of course, sensitivity.

1. Tests in the form of paper strips, which are impregnated with a substance that reacts to the presence of hCG. The principle of their operation is absolutely simple: dip the strip into a jar of urine for ten seconds, wait about 5 minutes and see if two red lines appear. If yes, then most likely you will soon become a mother. The sensitivity of pregnancy tests of this type is most often 20 or 25 mIU/ml.

As a rule, they detect the level of hormones that is reached in the female body a few days after the delay of menstruation, so there is no point in using them before this period. This is the first generation of tests. It happens that they show distorted results. It is especially unpleasant if it was determined that there was no pregnancy, but in fact there was one. The strip may not have completely absorbed the liquid and distorted the picture.

Despite this, they are in great demand. The price for such products ranges from 10 to 100 rubles.

2. II generation - cassette pregnancy test. Sensitivity 15, 20 is the most common marking on it. Such products look like a case containing a paper test in the form of a strip. There are 2 windows on the body. Urine gets into the first using the pipette included in the package, it comes into contact with the reagent present there, and the result will be visible in the second after three or four minutes. This one costs more (60-150 rubles), but its quality is not much different from ordinary paper. A more sensitive product will be able to detect your interesting condition a few days before the start of your critical days.

If you are really looking forward to pregnancy and want to leave the displayed two lines as a souvenir, then you will be able to do this with such a copy. Plus it looks beautiful.

3. Sensitivity 10 or 20 is its standard value. This is the most accurate version of the test, the latest, third generation, its price is quite high, ranging from 150-300 rubles.

It contains a special layer of blue reagents, which, detecting hCG in women's urine, attach to them and show their presence within a minute. To carry out diagnostics with it, you do not need containers and pipettes, it is simply placed under urine, the reliability of the result does not depend on what time the procedure is carried out.

This highly sensitive pregnancy test gives you the chance to determine an interesting position already on the 6th day after conception.

A variant of the inkjet test is the electronic test. Its price is the highest - 200-1000 rubles, and the only difference is that instead of the appearance of stripes that you need to look closely at, it displays the word “pregnant”, that is, “pregnancy”.

Reasons for false indicators

Disruptions in results can occur for various reasons. The main ones are:

• the procedure has not been followed;
• was stored incorrectly;
• was carried out very early;
• the woman has problems with her ovaries;
• a month or two after childbirth, there may still be hCG in the blood;
• presence of tumors;
• a large amount of liquid drunk the day before.

If the analysis draws the desired lines, it is advisable to quickly contact a medical specialist who will either confirm the pregnancy or send you for examination to find out the cause of the false-positive result.

Choosing the best option

When choosing a test, the decisive factor is at what stage you want to discover your interesting position. If before the delay of the critical days, then you should purchase more sensitive products labeled 10, 15 mIU/ml. If you are already pregnant, you can buy a more economical paper pregnancy test. Sensitivity of 20, 25 and below is highly likely to correctly indicate your condition.

Numerous studies of the Russian market of consumers of this product indicate that the following tests are in great demand:

1. Paper strips with a sensitivity of 20-25: BB (BB), Frautest Express, Evitest No. 1 (will detect pregnancy from the 3rd day of delay).
2. Cassette, sensitivity 20, 15: Evitest Proof, Frautest Expert (they will determine an interesting position 8-14 days after conception).
3. Inkjet, sensitivity 10, 20: ClearBlue (electronic), FRAUTEST EXCLUSIVE. They are able to determine the onset of pregnancy from the 6th day after conception.

These models are said to rarely give false results. The Russian-made “Bee Sure” products have proven themselves well. It is very popular, largely due to the fact that it is a pregnancy test, the price of which is affordable for almost everyone and is 10-15 rubles, and the results are usually reliable.

To summarize, I would like to note: if a highly sensitive test did not show an interesting position, and you carried it out 6-7 days after possible conception, do not despair. This could mean that it is simply very early and the hCG levels have not reached the amount that your product sample can pick up. Be patient and repeat the test after two or three days. Since the hCG indicator changes noticeably just after 2 days. The same rule applies to a less sensitive (with a specified 25 or 30 mIU/ml indicator) pregnancy test. The period that has passed since conception may not be sufficient for this particular product, but another manufacturer will not let you down and will show the desired 2 stripes.

The ability of a pregnancy test to test for the presence of the hCG hormone in urine is called sensitivity. Manufacturers claim that modern products that diagnose pregnancy are ultrasensitive tests, because they detect the “pregnancy hormone” at the lowest level. Using these tests, pregnancy can be determined as early as two weeks after conception.

Sensitivity of pregnancy tests

The principle of operation of pregnancy tests is the same for everyone. They respond to the presence of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the urine. But they differ from each other in their ability to fix this very hormone at an early stage.

The ability of the test to detect the hCG hormone at an extremely low level is called sensitivity by experts. The more sensitive the pregnancy test, the more accurate the research result. Therefore, the ability of the test to be sensitively felt is one of the decisive criteria when choosing a product.

HCG is a “pregnancy hormone”, the amount of which rapidly increases at the time of conception. Under normal conditions, the level of the hormone in a woman’s body ranges from 0-5 mIU/ml (international units per ml). With the onset of fertilization, the concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin increases several times.

The pharmaceutical market offers a huge number of tests with varying degrees of sensitivity 10-20-25 mIU/ml. For example, one of the most accurate pregnancy tests in the Frautest line - Frautest Expert - has an accuracy of 15 mIU/ml and differs from other types of tests in that, thanks to its design, it is able to achieve maximum contact of the reagent with urine. How to interpret this data? Experts explain that the numbers explain what concentrate of “pregnant hormone” this test can detect - the lower the number indicated, the higher the sensitivity threshold, and accordingly, the result is as reliable as possible.

Thus, pregnancy tests with markers of 10-20 mIU/ml can detect the fetus 10-14 days after conception. That is, 4 days before the expected menstruation, the fact of pregnancy can be established.

Tests with a sensitivity of 25 mIU/ml confirm conception no earlier than the first day of a missed period.

The most sensitive pregnancy test before a missed period

As reported above, a test with the highest sensitivity for the hCG hormone can determine whether you are pregnant or not. The degree of sensitivity of the tests is indicated by the numbers 10, 20, 25. The markers explain what hormone concentrate this product can detect - the lower the indicated number, the higher the sensitivity threshold of the test, which means the more accurate the test result.

Based on the assortment on the pharmaceutical market, it can be argued that products such as strip tests, strips, that is, old-style tests with a sensitivity level of 25 mIU/ml, will not show early pregnancy. Two stripes will appear only after the first day of the missed period.

Modern tests can detect fertilization before the start of the planned cycle:

1. electronic disposable/reusable;
2. tablet tests.

The sensitivity of the listed tests ranges from 10-25 mIU/ml. Such innovative devices will detect pregnancy from the first or second week after conception. That is, according to manufacturers, already 4-5 days before the start of menstruation, ultra-sensitive tests can show two stripes.

Some consumers and product manufacturers doubt the veracity of the technical characteristics of modern tests. Arguing that the degree of sensitivity indicated on the package (20 or 10 mIU/ml) is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Because all highly sensitive tests on the pharmaceutical market have a sensitivity index of 25 units. And markers of 10 or 20 mIU/ml are a myth.

Pregnancy tests for home use sold in any pharmacy differ not only in cost, but also in the method of taking the test itself, and most importantly, in the level of sensitivity.

Home pregnancy tests determine the result based on the level of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, produced only during pregnancy) in the urine. This hormone is produced by the chorion (the membrane of the embryo) after it is fixed in the uterine cavity. From this moment, the concentration of hCG in the woman’s urine begins to increase, and the quality and sensitivity of the test determines when you can get an accurate answer whether pregnancy has occurred.

The sensitivity of pregnancy tests is marked with numbers 10, 20, 25, 30, which corresponds to the concentration of hCG in urine in mIU/ml (international units per ml) that they are able to detect. The lower the number, the higher the sensitivity of the test and its accuracy.

Before missed period

The most sensitive and most expensive tests recognize the appearance of a baby even before the expected date of the onset of menstruation - already seven to ten days from the moment of expected conception. Read the information on the package carefully; the sensitivity of such a test should be 10 mIU/ml. As a rule, inkjet tests have the desired characteristics.

A blood test for hCG is another way to find out about early pregnancy. On the 12th day after the date of expected conception (that is, with a long cycle even before the delay), based on the results of this analysis, it will already be possible to say whether pregnancy has occurred in this cycle or not, and to accurately name the due date. The presence of hCG in the blood can be determined earlier - already on the seventh day after conception, however, the results may be inaccurate and the blood will need to be taken again a week later to confirm them.

When choosing the time to take a pregnancy test, keep in mind that the hCG blood test is best taken in the morning on an empty stomach. If you come in the afternoon, be prepared to not eat for four to six hours before your blood is drawn. It is also recommended to avoid physical activity before the procedure. If you are taking any hormonal medications, discuss this with your doctor before donating blood.

First or third day of delay

Most home tests have a sensitivity of 20–25 mIU/ml and provide accurate results from the first day of a missed period. It is useless to use such a pregnancy test when it is too early to do it - the answer will be negative, even if pregnancy has actually occurred.

Fourth to seventh day of delay

A definite answer can be obtained after a significant delay in menstruation. At this time, any test, if it is working properly, will show an accurate result. It is worth considering that with the help of a home test you can only determine the presence or absence of pregnancy, and its exact duration can only be determined by taking a blood test for hCG.

What time to take a pregnancy test

It is better to take a home pregnancy test in the morning, when the concentration of the hCG hormone in the urine is maximum.

If it is more convenient for you to take a pregnancy test in the evening, be sure to choose the most sensitive jet test, for which the exact time of the test is not of serious importance.