Is First Response or Clear Blue better?
After additional research and testing, we continue to recommend First Response Early Result, which remains the most sensitive home pregnancy test of its kind. We still think Clearblue Digital is the best choice if you prefer a digital wand test.
Proov Check is one of the few tests that can detect pregnancy hormone levels as low as 5mIU/mL, which allows you to check for pregnancy as early as five days before the expected period, Dr. Flisser says.
1. First Response Early Result. This bestselling product tops our list as the best pregnancy test for early detection. It's sensitive enough to give results 6 days before your missed period (with varying degrees of accuracy, given that hCG levels increase at different rates for each person).
FIRST RESPONSE™ pregnancy test's accuracy is unsurpassed. First to Detect™ technology detects lower levels of hCG in your urine. The more sensitive a pregnancy test is, the earlier you will know if you are pregnant.
What level of hCG can pregnancy tests detect? Generally, most home pregnancy tests claim to detect hCG levels from 25 mIU/ml. However, some tests, such as the Clearblue® Early Digital Pregnancy Test and the Clearblue Early Detection Pregnancy Test, are so sensitive they can detect hCG levels as low as 10 mIU/ml.
Clearblue Early Detection is another great choice for early testers. It's slightly less sensitive than First Response Early Result, but it has a wider absorbent tip and a longer handle.
Out of 18 brands tested, only one, the First Response Early Result Test, was sensitive enough to "consistently detect 12.5 mIU (milli-International Units per milliliter of urine) of hCG, considering the manufacturer's suggested read time, and produced both clear and faintly discernible positive results" on the first ...
That's when a rapid option like the First Response Rapid Result Pregnancy Test can be extra helpful. The only potential downside of this test is that it's less sensitive, so it can only be used from the day of your missed period.
However, you don't need to stress too much about taking a pregnancy test at a specific time of day. Using urine later on when it's less concentrated may only “hypothetically delay a positive result by only 12 to 24 hours,” advises Dr. Flanagan.
In laboratory testing, FIRST RESPONSE™ Digital Pregnancy Test detected the pregnancy hormone levels in the urine of 60% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period; in 86% of pregnant women 4 days before their expected period; in 96% of pregnant women 3 days before their expected period; in >99% of pregnant ...
How sensitive is 1st response pregnancy test?
In laboratory testing, FIRST RESPONSE™ detected hormone levels consistent with pregnancy in 76% of women 6 days before the day of missed period, in 96% of women 5 days before the day of missed period, and in >99% of women 4 or fewer days before the day of missed period.
Most home pregnancy tests are reliable, for example Clearblue's tests have an accuracy of over 99% from the day you expect your period, and while it's possible a test showing a negative result is wrong, particularly if you're testing early, getting a false positive is extremely rare.
Clearblue Early Detection Pregnancy Test provides early detection of the pregnancy hormone. 71% of pregnancies can be detected 6 days before the missed period (5 days before the expected period) and 94% of pregnancies can be detected 5 days before the missed period (4 days before the expected period).
- DON'T Drink Alcohol, Smoke or Take Illegal Drugs if You Think You Might be Pregnant. ...
- DON'T Ignore Common Pregnancy Symptoms. ...
- DON'T Drink Too Much Water Prior to Taking a Pregnancy Test. ...
- DON'T Take a Negative Home Pregnancy Test Result at Face Value. ...
- DON'T Panic.
It appears shortly after the embryo attaches to the wall of the uterus. If you are pregnant, this hormone increases very rapidly. If you have a 28 day menstrual cycle, you can detect hCG in your urine 12-15 days after ovulation.
By the time you're 4 weeks pregnant, you can usually get a clear positive on a urine pregnancy test. It's a funny thing, but your egg may have only been fertilized in the last two weeks.
Know this: All Clearblue® pregnancy tests are over 99% accurate from the day you expect your period. False positives very rarely occur, and are often due to medical conditions or certain medications. False negatives, while more common, typically occur due to testing too early or drinking too much liquid before testing.
In a healthy pregnancy, the levels of the hormone should double every 2 to 3 days. While the line might be faint at the very beginning of pregnancy, as time goes on and the pregnancy advances, the line that the test produces should get darker and more apparent.
Two pink lines in the pregnancy test result window means you are pregnant. A positive test result shows that the pregnancy hormone (hCG) was detected. One pink line and one line lighter than the other in the pregnancy test result window means you are pregnant.
Your HCG levels must reach 25 milliInternational units (mIU) per millimeter (mL) to indicate a positive result—which often happens within 3 to 5 weeks after your last menstrual cycle.
How high is hCG after implantation?
Within one day of implantation, hCG levels increase by 50% every day. Some research has shown that these increases can lead to the early pregnancy symptoms of nausea and morning sickness.
Urine hCG testing is qualitative, reporting a positive or negative result. The assays detect hCG levels typically starting at 20 to 50 (reportedly as low as 6.3 to 12.5)[19] mIU/mL, corresponding to levels at approximately 4 weeks post-conception. Serum assays can measure beta-hCG as low as 1 to 2 mIU/mL.
A false-positive test result only happens less than 1% of the time, but when it does, it can make the following days or weeks confusing before you realize you're not actually pregnant.
In many cases, when you are using a First Response™ test, the test line may be a fainter pink than the control line, which is sometimes quite dark. A test line can be faint pink if your urine is diluted or it's very early in your pregnancy. Not-to-worry, though.
Could a positive result be wrong? That's rare. But it is possible to get a positive result from a home pregnancy test when you're not pregnant. This is called a false-positive.
Depending on when you're taking it, there might be some benefit in taking one test and then a second one (again, a few days later). But cleaning out the entire drugstore shelf to be really certain? Yeah, no. Stick with two or go see your doctor to put any uncertainty at ease.
Excess fluids can impact the accuracy of the test results, so if your urine is diluted or pale yellow, hold off on taking a test. Diluted urine tends to also have diluted hCG levels which can skew the test results. Take a test when you naturally need to pee.
A negative pregnancy test at night and positive in the morning. As strange as it sounds, you might get a negative result from the pregnancy test at night and a positive one in the morning. In this case, you should wait for another 3 to 5 days before you take your pregnancy test again.
First morning urine samples will normally contain the highest levels of hCG. C. If not tested immediately, urine may be stored at room temperature (59-86oF or 15-30o C) or 8 hours refrigerated at 36─46oF (2─8oC) for up to 3 days. Samples must be brought to room temperature before testing.
Any coloration in a positive line indicates pregnancy. A mark on a pregnancy test may be an evaporation line if: More than 10 minutes have passed since taking the test. The mark is faint and colorless, and it resembles a water spot.
What if my FIRST RESPONSE pregnancy test is negative but no period?
If your period is very late, or you've skipped your period, and you get a negative result, you are unlikely to be pregnant. If you are testing before the date of your expected period, you may be pregnant but your hCG levels are too low for the test to detect.
You will see a faint horizontal line crossing a dark vertical line if you use a test with the sign of plus. There is a darker line next to the faint line if you use a test with parallel lines to confirm your pregnancy. On early testing, the faint line is too tiny to make a visible appearance.
Most home pregnancy tests are reliable, for example Clearblue's tests have an accuracy of over 99% from the day you expect your period, and while it's possible a test showing a negative result is wrong, particularly if you're testing early, getting a false positive is extremely rare.
This usually ranges between a couple of minutes up until 10 minutes later. If you see a positive result beyond this time frame, you may be left second-guessing the results. However, always remember that a pregnancy test result is only accurate within 10 minutes.
Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Smart Countdown
If you take the test on or after the first day of your expected period, the results are 99 percent accurate. That said, the test is sensitive enough to detect pregnancy five days before a missed period.
Although your body begins to produce hCG 7 to 10 days after fertilization, waiting provides the most accurate results. In order to give your body enough time for hCG to build up to a detectable level in your urine by a pregnancy test, it is best to take a pregnancy test about 14 days after fertilization.
Should I dip my home pregnancy test in urine, or pee on it? Most tests allow you to either place the absorbent tip in your urine stream for (usually) five seconds or dip the tip in a collected urine sample for five to 20 seconds. Accuracy is not dependent on the method as long as you follow the instructions.
Can certain foods affect a pregnancy test? No. While there are foods you'll want to eat and avoid once you've confirmed you're pregnant, what you've eaten (or not eaten) before you take a pregnancy test won't impact its ability to detect hCG.
1. First Response Early Result. This bestselling product tops our list as the best pregnancy test for early detection. It's sensitive enough to give results 6 days before your missed period (with varying degrees of accuracy, given that hCG levels increase at different rates for each person).
Week 4 of pregnancy
For example, a fertilised egg may have implanted in your womb just 2 weeks ago, but if the first day of your last period was 4 weeks ago, this means you're officially four weeks pregnant! Pregnancy normally lasts from 37 weeks to 42 weeks from the first day of your last period.
Does hCG show up faster in blood or urine?
HCG blood tests can detect pregnancy about 10 days after conception, while urine tests generally take 2 or more weeks. Although some home pregnancy tests can provide results before the first missed period, the results are usually more accurate after the first day of the missed period.
Getting your period a week after a positive pregnancy test can be confusing and frightening, but it's actually much more common than you might realize. You may have experienced what's often referred to as a chemical pregnancy. Many women who have a chemical pregnancy actually don't even realize they've conceived.
Most home pregnancy tests detect pregnancy about two weeks after conception, so you might want to jump to week 4.
Your growing uterus is pulling and straining the muscles that support it. You may feel sharp pains or just a mild pulling sensation. It often occurs when you cough, sneeze, stand up, sit down, roll over, or during sex.
Any positive line, no matter how faint, means your result is pregnant. Levels of hCG in your body will increase over the course of your pregnancy. If you test early, your hCG levels may be still be low and you'll see a faint positive line.
An early pregnancy test might pick up very low amounts of hCG. However, it's possible that you don't have enough circulating hCG to get a positive result even on a sensitive test. Another common reason for getting a false negative is not having enough hCG in the urine you test.
Normal Results
Normal levels are found in: Non-pregnant women: less than 5 mIU/mL. Healthy men: less than 2 mIU/mL.
| Length of pregnancy | Average hCG levels in blood during pregnancy |
|---|---|
| 8 - 12 weeks | 32,000 - 210,000 µ/L |
| 13 - 16 weeks | 9,000 - 210,000 µ/L |
| 16 - 29 weeks (second trimester) | 1,400 - 53,000 µ/L |
| 29 - 41 weeks (third trimester) | 940 - 60,000 µ/L |
A negative qualitative HCG test means a person is not pregnant. If they still suspect that they are pregnant, a person should repeat the test after a few days . False-positive results may occur if hormone levels are high due to menopause or hormone supplements.
| Pregnancy week | Range of hCG levels in milli-international units per milliliter (mIU/mL) |
|---|---|
| 3 weeks | 5–72 mIU/mL |
| 4 weeks | 10–708 mIU/mL |
| 5 weeks | 217–8,245 mIU/mL |
| 6 weeks | 152–32,177 mIU/mL |
How long after implantation does hCG rise?
About 11-14 days after implantation, a woman's hCG levels are high enough to start causing early pregnancy symptoms. Some of these might include fatigue, food cravings, darkening in the color of the nipples, or gastrointestinal changes. When a woman experiences these symptoms, a pregnancy test may show up positive.
A borderline result is generated by some assays when the hCG level is between 5 and 25 mIU/mL. Samples reported as borderline are considered indeterminate, and clinicians should request a repeat test within 48 to 72 hours or obtain a quantitative serum hCG.
That said, hCG levels vary from person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy, so hCG levels are not definitive to determine a twin pregnancy. Some people have high hCG levels and only give birth to one baby; others have exceptionally low hCG levels and give birth to multiples.
Even if a complication associated with low hCG levels occurs, such as a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy, this does not mean that someone will be unable to get pregnant again or that their fertility is compromised. A successful pregnancy is still possible with low hCG levels.
Symptoms of rising hCG levels can include fatigue, nausea/vomiting (aka morning sickness), dizziness or light-headedness, breast tenderness, and feeling emotionally sensitive.
"Low hCG levels may represent a very early pregnancy or a pregnancy that is ending in miscarriage," says Dr. Lang. Other causes include blighted ovum (the fertilized egg fails to develop properly) and ectopic pregnancy (the embryo implanted somewhere outside of the uterus—usually the fallopian tube).
It can be tempting to try remedies or foods that purportedly help raise your hCG levels. Unfortunately, there's no way to change your hCG levels or make them go up. What's more, hCG levels reflect information about your pregnancy, but changing them wouldn't address the cause of any potential problems.
According to the HCG diet website, here are a list of the approved foods: Some FruitsLimited oranges, strawberries, apples, and red grapefruit. Nonstarchy Vegetables Lettuce, celery, cabbage, cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes.
PRL pulses caused a progressive inhibition of spontaneous HCG pulsatility. In conclusion, stress-related hormones affect placental HCG secretion in vitro. The involvement of these factors in impairing early pregnancy development is suggested.
