When you head to the shop or online to look for a home pregnancy test it feels like there are soooooo many options, surely they all do the same thing? Navigating through the jungle of tests which in reality will only be used once and then thrown away is hard, and I can’t to be honest say that I have the answer you are looking for, because, like many things in life it depends…
Your Choice of Home Pregnancy Test Depends on….
YOUR BUDGET
Research shows that most women take three pregnancy tests when confirming if they are pregnant or not, so if you are buying three can you really afford to spend $50+ on three digital ones? The price of home pregnancy tests ranges from $7 all the way up to $19 for just one test. The price depends on whether you want one a test strip you dip into urine at the low end or at the top end a digital all singing all dancing test that throws confetti out of it if it is positive (I am joking on the confetti, singing, and dancing, but you get what I mean :)).
THE SENSITIVITY OF THE TEST
You might not be aware that your HCG levels are what a home pregnancy test measures, officially doctors say that an HCG at 25 or above is considered pregnant and below 5 is not pregnant in the middle is a maybe/grey area. Most tests show a positive result for a HCG of 25+, however, some pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others and can detect an HCG at 10 or above. Basically, a test that measures an HCG of 10+ will detect your pregnancy earlier than one that measures at HCG 25+. In my case, my first HCG was 16, I had tested with a test of 25 HCG sensitivity so thought I wasn’t pregnant and had a blood test to double-check. In my experience it’s swings and roundabouts as to the test sensitivity you choose, there would have been less heartache (I spent a day crying thinking it was a no) if I had used a more sensitive test, and one less rollercoaster of emotions to ride, but on the other hand if I was trying to get pregnant naturally I probably wouldn’t have tested until much later in my cycle and then a less sensitive test would have been fine as my HCG levels would have been higher.
DIGITAL OR LINES
High or low tech? I am a bit of a greeny so I say stay low tech and get a test that shows you if you are pregnant or not by the number of lines it produces, my reasoning is that the digital tests are using up resources in the digital parts that cannot be reused, all for the fun of getting the word PREGNANT or a smiley face. Of course, you may prefer the hopefully smiley face. The only time when I personally can see value in the digital tests is when you get one that has the weeks indicator, this gives you a rough idea as to how many weeks pregnant you are.
DIP OR INSTREAM
I think this comes down to personal preference as to whether you like to wee on a stick or in a cup. For the strip pregnancy tests, you just wee in a cup and dip the strip in up to the line, then wait. For the instream tests, you wee on the test (trying not to wee on your hands), but you can also wee in a cup and dip the test in.
BRAND
Some people swear by Clearblue or First Response the two market leaders, but there are also Pregnosis, Forelife and Fertility2Family. All brands of pregnancy tests have to have TGA (Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration) approval to be sold in Australian stores, all the products on our site have been approved by the TGA, and you should not be using one that is not, as it may not be very accurate.
Clear as mud? As you know if you have some of my other blog posts I like to keep it real, just like anything that you shop for there are lots of choices. I know when I tested I took two tests to be sure and used two different brands, thinking that if one was faulty I had a second. I recommend that you either buy two different brands of tests or a pack with 3 or 5 in it, then you have options, as your HCG levels may be too low and show a negative result one day and the next a positive. Good luck! I’d love to hear in the comments if you have any test feedback 🙂
