| The
highest level of pregnancy hormone is found in first-morning urine.
That is the best time to use a pregnancy test strip. Most of the kind
a woman urinates on need to be saturated with urine in order to work
properly. Therefore, be sure to hold the stick in the urine stream
for 3 good seconds or more.
It takes about 5 minutes
for the urine to travel down the strip and the results to be indicated.
The stick must be read within 10 minutes, or it may indicate a positive
result after 10 minutes, even if the result is actually negative.
Positive results that show up within the first 10 minutes may be
very faint. This would happen if it is early, and the pregnancy
hormone is just barely detected. Even a faint result is a positive
result. The woman can confirm the positive by taking another test
a day or two later to see a darker line appear.
Pregnancy tests are very
accurate when used correctly. But, remember, they must be used at
the right time of the month. Too early, and a false negative result
will occur, due to the need for the pregnancy hormone to be present
in a high enough quantity for the stick to measure. If the menstrual
period is two weeks late, and the pregnancy test is still negative,
an appointment with the doctor might be indicated.
If you are pregnant,
you should call your doctor and make an appointment. The first pregnancy
appointment is usually at around 12 weeks of pregnancy, in order
to be able to hear the baby's heartbeat.
|
