Why a pregnancy test can be wrong? Do you belong to the selected criteria of women who have gone on to perform more than one pregnancy test just to cross check? Are you not satisfied with the results of one or have you go crazy? Though figures indicate that the home pregnancy tests are accurate as high as 99 %, but it drops down alarmingly when it is conducted on the first day of the missed period. ‘False positive’ tends to emerge, when a test comes out that you are positive, whereas you are not and a ‘false negative’ stands when you are pregnant and the results show otherwise. Hereby are some tips which will make you confident and trust the results.
The reasons for a false negative test result (you are really pregnant and the results show otherwise)
- The main reason for a false positive is that the test is done too soon and there is negligible HCG in your urine. As stated HCG is produced by the placenta and it cannot be detected until the fertilized egg is attached to the uterus which happens 6 to 12 days after ovulation. The pregnancy test is done too soon after conception and it is not possible to detect HCG so early
What should be done here is that you should wait for a week and then again take a retest. You should wait until 14 days of the sexual activity that may have led to conception is more accurate that getting to the home pregnancy test when you miss a period. This is especially true when you have irregular cycles or are not sure when the last cycle did occur.
- The hook effect which occurs when there is too much of HCG in the urine. In this test you detect HCG levels between 27 and 233 parts per million. If there is too much HCG present it cannot be detected. This is not that common and is seen in case of molar pregnancy.
What should be done in this case is that if your test is negative, but you are showing symptoms of pregnancy, or you are not aware of why you missed your period go on to schedule an appointment with your health care provider. He might be in a better position to state why your pregnancy test false negative emerged in the first place.
Some of the reasons for false positive test result emerge due to antibodies in the body that interferes with the antibodies in the system. Once again this is uncommon and occurs in case of woman who works with animals.
Ideally you should repeat the test after one week and follow the instructions carefully. If the result is still positive you can consult with your health care provider.
If you follow the above-mentioned tips, you are more confident about the results of your home pregnancy tests. If the results do not make any sense to you, it would be better to get in touch with your doctor.
