Pregnancy is an almost magical state that requires maximum attention and responsibility from women. It is better if it is diagnosed as soon as possible. For sure, a woman is pregnant or not, only a specialist can, and two treasured strips on the test can become a reason for treatment. When do you need to do a pregnancy test?
To understand this, you need to know what a test is. In its simplest form, it is a paper strip soaked in a specific place with a special substance that changes color when reacted with the hormone of chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). It appears in the blood of every pregnant woman.
This hormone necessarily begins to be produced when the egg is attached to the uterus. Purely theoretically, pregnancy can be determined already at this moment, in practice, the concentration of hCG in the blood at this time is minimal, and will reach the required value only after a few days.
Experts do not advise doing a pregnancy test before the delay of menstruation, the likelihood of a positive result is too small, even in the presence of pregnancy. However, a lot depends on the sensitivity of the test. Sensitivity can be from 10 to 25 mIU / ml. Have you chosen your pregnancy test? How many days can one hope for a true result? With maximum sensitivity already on the 4th day from the attachment of the embryo.
This usually occurs on day 7-10. If attachment occurs on day 7, the required concentration of hCG is reached by day 10-11. That is, purely theoretically, on day 11 the test may well already show a positive result. But the likelihood of this is quite small.
After all, it may very well be that the attachment will occur only on the 10th day, which means that the amount of hCG may not be enough. In this case, a reliable result can be obtained no earlier than 14 days after conception. In fact, this corresponds to the day when a woman should begin her period.
So when do you need to do a pregnancy test? From the foregoing, we can conclude that there is no sense in doing a test without waiting for a delay, there is a great risk of getting a negative result, and getting upset ahead of time.
But all these calculations are valid only for the test with high sensitivity. In the case of a less sensitive test, you must wait another week. Only then will the results be as reliable as possible. That is exactly what the experts answer the questions of women when they need to do a pregnancy test.
Relying entirely on the test is not worth it. To be sure, it is better to make several of them. And with the results you need to go to the doctor and do a blood test for hCG. In any case, with a long delay in menstruation, you can’t do without going to a specialist, even in the case of a negative test. Firstly, each organism is individual, and for a number of reasons, the amounts of the hormone in the blood and urine can vary significantly. In this case, the rapid test will give a negative result, even if the woman is pregnant. In addition, the test can be defective, this is rare, but it happens. Secondly, even if there really is no pregnancy, it is necessary to determine the reason for the delay. This may be due to commonplace stress, and may indicate a disease. It is necessary to start treating them as soon as possible, since otherwise the consequences may be irreversible.
By the way, if a woman’s period began in due time, but there are other symptoms that may indicate pregnancy, the test still makes sense, in some cases, menstruation in pregnant women continues for several months.
I would like to believe that this article gave a detailed answer to the question “When should I do a pregnancy test?” Still, early diagnosis of pregnancy is the key to the health of women and children.