What Everybody Ought to Know About Pregnancy Test False Negative
Everybody ought to know that pregnancy test false negative happens. You wonder why this is possible and yet you’ve been told time and again that home pregnancy tests are 100% accurate. It’s is true that pregnancy tests are 100% accurate, and I don’t dispute. However, I have some information that everybody ought to know besides knowing that pregnancy test false negative happens.
Everybody ought to know that the accuracy of pregnancy tests is dependent on several factors: the performance of the pregnancy test and state of the woman’s body. You know that pregnancy tests detect hCG to determine whether you’re pregnant or not. This is where the state of the woman’s body comes in. You know that different pregnancy tests have different sensitivity levels. This is where the pregnancy test performance comes in.
Factors that lead to a pregnancy test false negative
1) Sensitivity of the pregnancy test
There are different pregnancy test kits in the market made by different pregnancy test manufacturers. Some pregnancy tests are more sensitive than others. The sensitive pregnancy tests are manufactured to detect pregnancy at low hCG counts of just 20mIU/ml. Others have low sensitivity and they detect pregnancy when the hCG count is at or above 50mIU/ml and 100mIU. Now, let’s see how a pregnancy test false negative happens under such circumstances.
Let’s take a woman whose hCG count is 20mIU/ml, and she purchased a pregnancy test that is calibrated to show pregnancy at 100mIU/ml hCG. From basic reasoning, it’s a fact that this woman will get a pregnancy test false negative. The pregnancy test she is using is designed to detect pregnancy at 100mIU/ml hCG, and it will not show pregnancy at 20mIU/ml. It’s best you purchase a pregnancy test with high sensitivity or wait for around two weeks to allow the hCG in the urine to increase.
2) Urine’s hCG count
As we have noted above, pregnancy test show whether you’re pregnant or not by reading the hCG count in your urine. So, if your urine has low hCG and the pregnancy test is designed to detect pregnancy at certain counts, then definitely you’ll get a pregnancy test false negative. How does the urine’s hCG count reduce when you’re, in fact, pregnant?
Drinking too much water during the day dilutes your urine and thus the concentration of hCG hormones reduces. So, if you take a pregnancy test when your urine is very dilute, you’ll get a pregnancy test false negative. It is best you do a pregnancy test using your first morning urine because it has the highest concentration of hCG hormones.
3) Testing time
The testing time matters because it determines the level of hCG hormones in the urine. During the early stages of pregnancy, the hCG count is very low. When the pregnancy has been there for about 7-10 weeks, the hCG hormones are in plenty. So, taking a pregnancy test during an early period of pregnancy will give you a pregnancy test false negative.
It’s recommended you wait for two weeks after your initial pregnancy test to allow the hCG to increase. I had a strong feeling that you ought to know these factors about pregnancy test false negative. If you have more information about what we ought to know about pregnancy test false negative, feel free to share with us.
