The one step pregnancy test has been around for many years, and has been simplified and perfected to be around 97% accurate.
Prior to do-it-yourself pregnancy tests, one had to see a doctor for him to test the urine. This meant diagnosis often had to wait for a couple of months. Nowadays, there are pregnancy tests that can be used even before the menstrual cycle is due.
Pregnancy tests work by measuring the presence of the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) that is present in urine during pregnancy. There are different kinds of pregnancy tests, either ones that require the strip to be urinated on, or those that have to be dipped into a pot of urine. Generally speaking, the latter are the least expensive and can be purchased for around 50p each. The former type can be as much as £15.
Some women are desperate to get pregnant and will test themselves daily around the time of their menstruation. Sometimes the results are faint and need redoing until the results are obvious. It is always best to use the early morning urine for the test, as this will contain a higher amount of hCG. A test later in the day may be less certain, although it will show positive if the woman is pregnant.
Various forums on the internet have reviews of one step pregnancy test kits, and it seems that the cheaper versions are as, and sometimes more, accurate than the more expensive ones, so it is worth shopping around. Pregnancy test kits can be bought over the internet for less that they retail in the shops, so it is worth doing some homework before dashing out to spend a fortune on kits from the chemist. Most large supermarkets that stock feminine hygiene products also stock pregnancy testing kits.
False positives can appear in pregnancy testing. This can be due to the test not being accurately read. Sometimes a positive line will show and then fade, other times a positive line will appear some time later than the limit given. It is therefore very important to follow the instructions accurately.
Certain drugs may emit hCG into the urine; these include Pregnyl, Novarel, Profasi, APL, Perganol, Clomid and other fertility drugs. Therefore, it is possible to get a positive reading due to these medications rather than a true pregnancy. Polycystic Ovary Disease and an ectopic pregnancy can also give a false reading on the one step pregnancy test.