Are the e.p.t or Early Pregnancy Tests Accurate Enough?
There are times when a woman would want to know whether she was pregnant fast and in as private a circumstance as possible. The e.p.t or early pregnancy test is just the right thing for this purpose. These tests are fairly reliable and can be doubted only when they come negative. In other words, in case the result from your e.p.t or early pregnancy test is negative, it might be still possible that you are pregnant. Repeat the test in about 2-3 days’ time. The test will never be wrong, however, if the results come positive.
How to Perform the Pregnancy Test
Follow the instructions accurately; you will need to carefully read the instructions that come with the e.p.t or early pregnancy test and do exactly as it is mentioned therein. Remember, even slight deviation from the instructions can influence the accuracy of the results.
Wait until the right time to do the testing. Sometimes women, in their anxiety to find out whether they are pregnant or not, ignore the minimum required period for the test to work. Hence, the results come negative, when it should actually read positive. As it is, since most women know intuitively when they are pregnant, the test would be repeated after a few days to confirm the doubts.
Use only the first morning urine for the test. Most of the e.p.t or early pregnancy tests work best when the first early morning urine is used. This is because only in the morning urine these is sufficient concentration of HCG which is the main ingredient with the help of which the test detects pregnancy. If you use urine from later in the day, the level of HCG may fall and the results will show negative, even if you are pregnant.
Give the kit sufficient time to work out the results. It usually takes about 2-5 minutes for the results to develop. Though five minutes can be an age when you are waiting for the results of the test, you have to allow the e.p.t or early pregnancy test to run its course. Hurrying it along would only interfere with the results.
The e.p.t or early pregnancy tests are a boon for women who need to know fast about the possibility of their being pregnant. As mentioned above, when these tests give positive results you need not doubt it. However, when it comes negative (and you feel it should be otherwise) you go right ahead and have a regular test to confirm your doubts, or repeat the test after 2-3 days.