A home pregnancy test  is a simple test that can tell whether you are pregnant, by checking for a particular hormone in your urine. For a woman, the decision of when to take a pregnancy test can be a major source of anxiety. Sometimes the stress is because she want to be pregnant, sometimes it’s because she doesn’t want a pregnancy in that moment.

Women that are sexually active may become pregnant if they have unprotected sex. Some women have an irregular cycle, while others a regular one.

A woman that has a regular cycle has a highier risk of pregnancy, from around the middle of the cycle to about two weeks before the next period (ovulation time).

When a woman has an irregular cycle, she does not know exactly when she ovulates, so she may get pregnant, if she has unprotected sex, in every moment.

^{But why a woman thinks that she may be pregnant?}

Sometimes a woman may feel different. These changes are normally during the menstrual cycle.

But if she has a missed periods then something is wrong. Changes that may indicate that a woman is pregnant are:

-missed periods;

-breasts change (sore and swollen breasts);

-light bleeding;

-cramps (may happen when implantation occurs);

-nausea and vomiting (from second to eight week);

-fatigue;

-craving for different and strange foods;

-change in bathroom habits (constipation, bloating, gas);

-feeling different (because of hormonal changes);

-missed contraception.

What we should know about home pregnancy tests?

Pregnancy tests taken at home are 99% accurate. Pregnancy tests may be taken in every moment of the day.

If your periods are regular, we recommend you to do your pregnancy test, at least two weeks after your ovulation day.

 If you have an irregular cycle you can take a pregnancy test two weeks after your last unprotected sex.

The hormone tested is HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin)., called  the “pregnancy hormone”. The human body produces HCG as soon as the pregnancy occurs. It can be tested in the blood or the urine.

The pregnancy tests used at home, detect this hormone in the urine,  in a specific level. For this reason, if the test is done too early, it is going to be negative.

If the result is positive the person should consult a doctor, which may recommend another test to confirm the pregnancy.

How to use a pregnancy test?

Based on the type of the pregnancy test you have chosen you should follow some simple steps if you want to have a correct result:

How to use a cassette test:

• _{Open the protective foil pouch immediately before use. Remove the test and pipette from the pouch;}
• _{Urinate in a clean plastic cup, draw 3-4 drops into the pipette and dispense it into the sample well of the Cassette;}
• _{Read the result in 3 – 5 minutes;}
• _{One band means a negative result, while two bands mean a positive result.}

How to use a streamer test:

• _{Open the protective foil pouch immediately before use. Remove the test from the pouch;}
• _{Urinate on the absorbent tip for 3-5 seconds until the whole tip is covered;}
• _{Read the result in 3 – 5 minutes;}
• _{One band means a negative result, while two bands mean a positive result.}

In both cases, the absence of any line or the appearance of only one line in the test area T indicates that the test is invalid. This means that the test is not regular or has not been used properlyIn this case the analysis must be repeated with a new test

What is a false positive result?

A false positive result is a positive test when you are not pregnant. This happens for some reasons, listed below:

• chemical pregnancy;
• ectopic pregnancy;
• recent miscarriage or abortion;
• user error when makes the test;
• hormone medications like Pregnyl, Ovidrel, Novarel ecc;
• certain medical conditions like urinary tract infections, kidney disease, ovarian cysts, pituitary problems.

What is a false negative result?

A false negative result means that the pregnancy test is negative, but you are pregnant. This can happen:

• if the test does not work correctly;
• if you have done the test too early and the pregnancy hormone cannot be detected yet.

Some of the pregnancy test you can buy online in FarmaOn