When a pregnancy test is positive, a woman may have doubts about the outcome and what to do. Therefore, it is important to know how to correctly interpret the test and, if necessary, make an appointment with the doctor to clarify doubts and prepare for pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests allow a woman to know if she is pregnant by detecting a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), whose rates increase as pregnancy develops.
- The test can be performed at home or in the lab and can be performed from the first day of the rule failure.
- Those made at home can be purchased from a pharmacy and detect the hormone in the urine.
- While the lab test detects the hormone in the blood.
Pregnancy tests, whether in pharmacies or labs, all work in the same way, detecting the hormone hCG in urine and blood, respectively. This hormone is initially produced by the fertilized egg and then by the placenta, gradually increasing during the first few weeks of pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests at pharmacies detect the hormone hCG in the urine from the first scheduled day of menstruation. These tests are easy to use and interpret, and digital versions are also available to tell you how many weeks a woman is pregnant.
Blood test is the most reliable test to confirm pregnancy, allowing you to detect small amounts of the hormone hCG, which occurs during pregnancy. This test can be done before the delay, but it can be a false negative result, so it is recommended to do so only 10 days after fertilization, or the first day after menstrual delay.
Learn more about this review and how to understand the result
Generally, women have more doubts about the interpretation of the tests purchased in pharmacies, because those that are performed in the laboratory, indicate the positive or negative result, in addition to also indicating the amount of beta hCG in the blood, which, if the woman is pregnant, is greater than 5 mlU / ml.
The pharmacy test is a quick exam that gives the result in minutes. However, in some cases, erroneous results may be obtained, especially if the test is performed too early, due to difficulty identifying the hormone or due to incorrect test performance.
To interpret the test, simply compare the streaks that appear on the screen. If only one streak appears, it means that the test was negative or that it is too early to detect the hormone. If two stripes appear, it means that the test has tested positive and the woman is pregnant. It is important to know that after 10 minutes, the result may change, so the result, after that time, is not taken into account.
In addition to this, there is also digital evidence, which shows on screen whether the woman is pregnant or not, and some of them are already doing a quantitative hormone check, allowing to know how many weeks the woman is pregnant.
If the woman is trying to conceive or already has symptoms and the result is negative, she can wait another 3 to 5 days and perform another test to confirm that the first was not a false negative. Know the reasons that a false negative can cause.
If the test is positive, the woman should make an appointment with her doctor, to clarify any doubts about the pregnancy and know what prenatal care should be given, so that the baby develops healthily.