Early pregnancy tests are increasingly used. How do they work and from when can they be performed?
There are many types of early tests on the market that can also be performed at home, which reveal well in advance whether you got pregnant or not. Nowadays these tests are quite reliable, but it is good to use them in the correct way so as not to be under any illusions. The first step is to understand when you were fertile, so review in this short video how to calculate your fertile days and run the test at the right time!
What to know before taking an early pregnancy test
You are looking for a baby and you have had one or more unprotected intercourse on the days when ovulation was expected. What to do immediately to find out if you are pregnant or not? Before rushing to the pharmacy to buy one of the many tests on the market or buy it online, take a moment to understand if the conditions for performing one are really there.
The condition that must always be there in order to perform an early pregnancy detection test is to be sure of when you have ovulated.
What do we mean by certainty? We advise against relying on calculations with the calendar in hand, because, however useful, they can always be wrong. Better to opt for ovulation tests, basal temperature detection or ultrasound monitoring; certainly safer.
If you are not sure, wait a few days, even though the wait is difficult!
The risk is to waste the test, because you may have performed it at the wrong times of your menstrual cycle. In addition to this, there is also a high (albeit remote) possibility of obtaining false negatives.
It is true that modern studies have developed very advanced early diagnosis products, but they are nonetheless tools with a specific sensitivity.
Being do-it-yourself tests, they have a concentration threshold below which they do not detect the positive (pregnancy started).
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What sticks or early blood tests detect
Until a few years ago, the only products in possession of women able to establish the presence of a pregnancy well in advance were the self-diagnostic sticks. These are the classic "white sticks" on which to slide a little urine. Today they have ergonomic shapes to be handled in the best way and have a price ranging from 8 € to 20 € approximately.
In 2018, First to know arrived on the Italian market, the first do-it-yourself pregnancy test on blood and not urine. Like its predecessors, it can be purchased in pharmacies and the cost starts from around € 12 to € 25 (1 piece or 2 pieces), in line with the rates of early stick tests.
How are the two examination methods activated and what do they detect?
If the egg has met the spermatozoon in the most suitable days for a conception, we can assume that a pregnancy has begun and that a lot of unique chemical and physical processes have been triggered with it.
In fact, following the fertilization of the ovum, it moves into the uterine cavity and is implanted in the wall: it is a very delicate phase and occurs before the onset of menstruation.
It is in these moments that the so-called pregnancy hormone, the beta hCG hormone, begins to develop and is detected by the famous early tests.
The betas are an indication of a fertilization that has taken place because they are produced by the cells that will make up the placenta.
The only difference between the two early methods is that in one beta hCG is detected in the urine, while in the other case it is analyzed for its presence or absence in the blood.
How an early pregnancy test works
The functioning of these self-tests is really simple.
Let's take as an example for the test sticks the most reliable on the market: the Clearblue Pregnancy Test - Early Detection.
It is an extremely sensitive product, capable of detecting even the smallest quantities of the pregnancy hormone in the woman's pee.
Here are the steps to use it correctly after you have secluded yourself in a bathroom:
1. Open the package and remove the aluminum wrap;
2. Remove the blue cap and immediately use the test stick; you will notice that the tip changes color and becomes pink: it is only to show that urine is being absorbed and that you are therefore using it in the right way;
3A. You can pee directly on the tip of the stick, continuing to direct the flow of urine there for at least 5 seconds;
3B. Alternatively, you can choose to immerse the tip completely in a urine sample that you have collected in a clean and dry container, for at least 20 seconds from the appearance of the pink color;
4. Put the cap back on and place the stick on a flat surface;
5. Wait 3 minutes and then you will have the digital result; remember to read it within 10 minutes of running it because after this time the results are no longer reliable.
The blood test you can do yourself instead works like a do-it-yourself test for measuring blood sugar. Basically it is a lancing device that makes a slight prick on a fingertip and which serves to make a drop of blood come out.
Combined there is the actual test that must be approached to the drop of blood. The latter is loaded into a special groove that must be completely full in order to function correctly.
In the end, you put the test flat, wait 10 minutes and read the result!
Stick: since when to do early pregnancy tests
If you have had unprotected intercourse you may have many questions before your period starts.
For example you would like to know how long before your period a reliable test can be performed.
We always keep the Clearblue Test Stick and the First to Know Blood Test as our example products to answer this question.
In the first case, you can also perform the test starting from 6 days before the delay of menstruation, (i.e. 5 days before the expected day of the menstrual cycle). As long as it's not too close to the ratio.
Let's take a practical example: if your cycle is scheduled for the 10th of the month, you could take this type of exam starting from the 5th of the same month.
Clearblue points out that if you test before your period is due and you get a negative result, there is still a chance that you are pregnant.
This is because hCG levels vary from woman to woman and some may not yet have produced enough hormone for the test to detect it positively.
If you repeat the test in the following days or even on the scheduled day of the cycle, the digital result will be really reliable because the levels of this hormone grow exponentially during the first weeks of gestation.
Nevertheless, the early test is generally very reliable: the accuracy is about 99%.
Pregnancy blood test: how long to do it in advance
This type of self-diagnostic examination can be done even 7/8 days after the presumed conception. We are talking about women who have regular cycles; for those who are subject to irregular cycles, the early blood test can result in false negatives. It is easy to fall into discomforting thoughts if a pregnancy is what you are looking for ... in case you are a girl with longer periods in between periods, opt for a safe test after the first day of your period.
The test with a minimum blood draw is a valid alternative to the urine test: for some it can be even more convenient and faster than the sticks, since it is not necessary to go to the bathroom to perform it. Another advantage is that you do not have to wait to get up in the morning to do it, which is always advisable when carrying out the urine test.
First to Know has a high sensitivity, 10 mIU / ml, like the Clearblue test, and therefore its accuracy is similar to the method we explained earlier (about 99%).
Obviously this type of test can also be done to get a more accurate result if you had a urine test on the first day of missed menstruation and this was negative, despite the pregnancy there. It happens when ovulation, and consequently conception, took place a few days later than expected.
In these cases, the blood test should immediately give a positive result.
Is it useful to know that you are pregnant a few days after conception?
Actually yes, it is useful in several cases. Let's see some case studies.
- When you suffer from certain diseases that during pregnancy should require specific therapy to ensure that the gestation proceeds smoothly, such as in the case of thrombi or high risk of pre-eclampsia;
- In the case of work at risk, to avoid harmful exposure to the fetus;
- If you have to take drugs that are not tolerated during pregnancy or you have to go for ultrasound scans;
- In situations of unwanted risky intercourse;
- If you have faced different paths to get pregnant and with assisted fertilization you hope to have finally made it and you do not want to wait to see the arrival of your period or not.
In all these specific situations, availing of a support with high accuracy rates can really help to control the doubts and stress of the moment.
On the contrary, it was possible to notice how some early home exams increase the anxiety of the result, coming to have real spasmodic episodes on the day of the test.
The risks of taking the tests too early are there and the most important can be summarized as follows: you can deceive yourself for nothing (it happens when you convince yourself that you are pregnant and then your periods arrive as always, even on time) and also convince yourself that you have something that does not work.
So be careful to want to know well in advance: sometimes it is possible to fall into a counterproductive vicious circle.
