Home Pregnancy Test Kits: Convenient, Effective Products

Home pregnancy test kits allow you to self-test at your convenience. They rely on detecting sufficient levels of a hormone - human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) - in the prospective mother's urine to declare a successful conception. This hormone is produced by the placenta once the fertilized egg implants in the uterus, and in the initial stages of the pregnancy it doubles every couple of days.

Home pregnancy test kits are sold in non-prescription aisles of grocery and drug stores. They typically use a dipstick or a strip which when dipped in urine, can determine pregnancy with fairly high likelihood. Most kits claim 99% accuracy but women should be aware that there a high rate of false negatives (missed pregnancies) are detected if the test is done prior to or on the day of a missed period. Tests are usually more reliable after a couple of days past this time.

Here is a list of some of the well known home pregnancy test kits.

First Response Early Result is one of the most popular brands - it sells several types of home pregnancy test kits that are capable of detecting pregnancy within 5 days prior to the time of periods and a day after missed periods. They are stated to be 99% accurate.

Their kits comes with a test strip that should be tested preferably with early morning urine (in the most concentrate form) by placing it under a stream of urine or dipping it in a cup of the collected urine. The strip shows pink striped if tested positive for pregnancy. The tests detect 25 mIU/ml of hcg in urine.

Their Gold Digital Pregnancy Test kit comes with an easy to read digital stick that displays "yes" or "no" on testing. These kits cost between $17-$20 for 3 tests and fall in the expensive range of these products. They are very simple to use. Many women report successful detection with these kits but testing too early has the risk of false negatives.

Clearblue easy pregnancy test kits are 99% accurate from the day of a missed period. They may give accurate results as early as 4 days prior to the expected period. The kits are easy to use. The strips read '+' or '-' to indicate a pregnancy or lack of one, respectively. There is also a digital option with easy to interpret results due to a display reading 'Pregnant' or 'Not Pregnant.'

The cost is about $17 for 2 tests.

EPT Pregnancy Testkit offers a well designed stick that is easy to hold during the test. The test may be conducted on the day of missed period and the results are 99% accurate. The stick reads the results within 3 minutes of testing. The kits cost about $15 for 2 tests.

Early-pregnancy-tests sells plain strips for testing for pregnancy. The strips cost around $0.92 each and even lesser if bought in bulk. They should be dipped vertically in a container with urine. The results appear within 5 minutes. The tests claim to detect a concentration of 20 mlU/ml of hcg with 99% accuracy within 5 days prior to a missed period.

Fact Plus Pregnancy Test Stickdetects 25 mIU/ml of hCG and is sold for $17-$20 for 2 tests. The stick reads '+' or '-' and is easy to use. The test can be performed 5 days prior to the expected period and is 99% accurate.

Accu-Clear Early Pregnancy Test kit costs about $10 for 2 tests. It is also easy to use and is 99% accurate. It may be used for testing from the day of a missed period.

Generic home pregnancy test kits are sold at Walgreens, CVS, Target, etc. These usually cost lesser than the branded ones while still providing 99% accuracy in their test results.

For example, Walgreens offers kits for as low as $10 for 2 tests. They also carry digital test sticks.

CVS Pregnancy Test is believed to detect 25 mIU/ml hcg in urine and also cost about $10 for 2 tests.

Target Early result pregnancy kit also detects 25 mIU/ml hcg with 99% accuracy.

Most brands are covered under FSA. So your expense on these home pregnancy test kits is tax exempt. Remember to save your receipts to claim them.

SOURCES:

www.emedicinehealth.com/home_pregnancy_test/article_em.htm
http://www.firstresponse.com/
http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100271&navAction=jump&navCount=1&skuid=sku1634163&id=prod1634175
http://www.factplus.com/home.php
http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/pregnancytests.html
http://www.drugs.com/drp/ept-pregnancy-test.html
http://www.clearblueeasy.com/