You?ve opened the box, ripped open the plastic, peed on the absorbent strip and impatiently awaited your results. But have you ever wondered just how much you can trust that little stick" With so many brands and styles on the market?from fancy early detection models to cheap ones you can pick up for next to nothing at the dollar store?choosing the right pregnancy test can feel overwhelming. Carrie Schram, a family doctor at Women?s College Hospital and medical director of the cycle monitoring program at Hannam Fertility Centre in Toronto, answers everything you?ve ever wondered about pregnancy test accuracy, the importance of price and how to avoid a false negative.
How do pregnancy tests work"
Any pregnancy test you can find, regardless of brand, style or price, will look for one simple thing: a detectable level of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that is produced by a newly implanted embryo. In a typical pregnancy, the hormone level doubles every 48 to 72 hours and usually reaches a level that can be detected by a urine test around 12 to 14 days after conception (or a couple of days before your expected period). If a test is more sensitive, it may be able to detect lower levels of hCG (that is, an earlier test result). How likely is it to get a false negative"
If your pregnancy is in its early stages and your body has not yet produced enough hCG for the test to detect, you could get a false negative, which means you?re actually pregnant, eve...