DIY Pregnancy Test: Reliable or Popular Belief?

DIY pregnancy tests, of course, mostly fall under popular customs and beliefs, as they are not reliable from a scientific point of view. By reading this article you will find out so much more about home made pregnancy tests.Have fun experimenting with them and watch the video to discover the biodegradable pregnancy test too ...

No scientific reliability, but a lot of anxiety to know and a lot of curiosity to try if it works.

Probably these recipes were born, when there being no tests in pharmacies, if a woman wanted to know if she was finally pregnant or if she feared an unwanted pregnancy at that time, she did not have many alternatives other than waiting a few weeks and consulting a doctor to be sure. However, women of the past were not lacking in creativity: they knew an infinite number of recipes for home tests to be done immediately as soon as the period was delayed. The pharmacies then began to sell pregnancy tests only in the 70s, therefore, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers thus satisfied their curiosity and satisfied the eagerness to know. And maybe those who lived in villages with only one pharmacy, even when the famous pregnancy tests arrived in the shops of the so-called apothecaries, feared that their request would immediately become public, becoming the gossip of the moment for their fellow villagers. This is probably the reason for so many home recipes to do a pregnancy test. Some of these simple ingredients you certainly already have at home, they are of daily use such as toothpaste, baking soda, vinegar, oil, sugar. These home methods are based as well as the pharmacy tests on making certain substances react with the urine of the woman, presumably pregnant. The difference with the official tests is precisely that the home ones cannot be considered valid from a scientific point of view . But many women, partly out of tension, partly out of anxiety, fear or emotion, especially in the past have experimented with these homemade methods, alone or perhaps with a best friend. Sometimes someone wanted to try them out of curiosity, even after having confirmed that she is pregnant from blood tests and other clear symptoms of pregnancy, to see with one's own eyes the validity of the advice of the grandmothers.

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For example, a popular belief, in order to know the sex of the unborn child, is this very common: the pregnant woman must choose between two chairs, one on which to sit; under the cushion of a chair there is a pair of scissors, under the other a knife. If the woman sits on the one with the scissors, she will have a female; if he chooses the one with the knife, he will have a boy. Rituals that make you smile, but that many pregnant women accept exciting to do, albeit with giggles and skepticism, as when you read the "horoscope, a bit" for fun, a bit "for that enthralling feeling of knowing a little" of the future, joking about it. These tests, as we have said, have no scientific validity and, therefore, we can illustrate them only as ancient customs and curiosities of the past. No scientist has recognized as scientific proof the reaction of a toothpaste, vinegar or bicarbonate with urine containing hormones, which reveal a pregnancy, namely beta HCG.
The presence of beta HCG, which developed from the first moment of conception, increases almost double every 48 hours, to create a suitable environment for the development of the embryo, can be detected both in the blood and in the urine. Therefore, the tests of the drugs can be done safely at home and are safe and suitable to react in contact with urine. Wait at least ten days from the day you presume to have conceived or after three days of delay in your period. The advice is to do it at early in the morning, although it can be done at any time, as the concentration of urine in the morning and beta HCG can be detected more easily. A urine pregnancy test costs from 7 to 20 euros. After the pharmacy test Instead, you should always consult a gynecologist, who will prescribe blood tests or other tests, depending on the case.

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Pregnancy test: the various do-it-yourself methods!

Let's start with the toothpaste: put some of the white one in a transparent plastic cup. Pour some urine over it. After a few minutes, if the toothpaste turns light blue, if you believe it, it means that you are pregnant and so even if it is foaming. Another technique is to use acetone or nail polish remover. Mix it with the urine in a transparent hard plastic cup and see if it becomes fizzy. In fact, this would be a sign of an ongoing pregnancy. Or you can use baking soda, pour a spoonful of it into a container: if it gets very frothy, then you might be expecting a boy; if the foam reaction is minimal, it could be a sissy or it is a sign of failure. If, on the other hand, you use white vinegar, take a picture before mixing it with the urine, which must reach halfway through the glass. If foam forms or the vinegar changes color, yellow or green, the test should be successful. After vinegar, oil suits us well and especially olive oil, another ingredient in your pantry. Pour the first morning urine into a clean glass container, let it cool in the fridge, then add four drops of oil, one at a time. If they join, the test should be positive, if they remain detached, negative. You can also do this with sugar: two or three tablespoons of sugar are enough in a container, in which you then have to pour a few drops of urine. If the sugar liquefies, the test is negative, but if the grains come together in a compound balance, you may be pregnant. With the long dandelion leaves, that grass with yellow flowers called dandelions, used for detoxifying herbal teas, you can try a different technique. Dip a leaf in a glass of transparent plastic with the morning urine. After about ten minutes, bubbles and reddish spots may appear on the leaf. According to some, this signal would indicate an indication of pregnancy. According to another popular belief, the urine of a pregnant woman in contact with bleach should become a more or less red color; if it bubbles and froths, the answer is no. Beware, however, that bleach alone and all the more mixed with other solutions can give off toxic vapors and therefore harm your health, if you are really pregnant. So, don't forget to always do this experiment with the balcony open.

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Among the various alternative tests that are always unproven scientifically, if you like, you can always experiment with that of the glass cup, in which you have poured urine. Put it in the fridge for 1 minute to let it cool, trying not to shake the container too much. The result in this case would be positive, if some particles come to the surface; if they go to the bottom it is negative. In the past, urine was boiled: if a creamy cloth appeared on the surface of the liquid during the test, the test was positive. Even if the urine changes color in contact with chlorine, the test is considered positive. In ancient Egypt, the wheat and barley test was practiced: the woman urinated on wheat and barley seeds. If the barley sprouted first, the unborn child was a male, if first the wheat a female. The soap test consists of this: take a bar of soap, such as Marseille soap, place it in a container that is not too large, pour the urine over it, trying to cover all the soap. If the soap bubbles and foams, the test would give a positive result. See it as a game to take away your curiosity and let us know if it works! The needle test is really special. With a needle and a cotton thread of about 25 centimeters. We lie down on the bed lying down and still. Another person swings on the abdomen of the presumably pregnant person. If the needle swings, according to this practice, the person should really be waiting. Many women are firmly convinced of the validity of these home tests, but we must recognize that they are without any scientific basis.

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The official pregnancy tests: pharmaceutical tests, blood tests, saliva tests.

In fact, home tests do not contain that particular reagent, which can detect the dosage of beta HCG, which pharmaceutical tests have instead. The pregnancy test is a blood or urine test to detect the dosage of the hormone chorionic gonadotropin, structured in a similar way to the hormone gonadotropins responsible for ovulation and the menstrual cycle. You can also use the early pregnancy test, to be done four to five days before the start of the menstrual cycle, therefore before the delay. The blood test is the one that quickly and safely reveals the presence of beta HCG in the circulation with a blood sample even after three or four days from what you think you have conceived. If you are a woman with an irregular period, it is better to wait four to five days after the delay in menstruation. You can also have false negative responses from the test, for a storage error or for an expired test, for having performed it too early or in case of ectopic pregnancy.

Symptoms that lead to suspicion of pregnancy are not always safe. Heartburn, drowsiness, white discharge are symptoms that many women experience before their period. The salivary test is for now only for sale online and measures the levels of the hormone beta HCG in saliva.

Recipe Do-it-yourself pregnancy test: here's the recipe!