When Is The Best Time To Take A Pregnancy Test?

If you’re trying to get pregnant or have been experiencing early signs of pregnancy like fatigue, missed a period, sore breasts or nausea, chances might be that you are pregnant. But how do you confirm that you’re about to embark on the journey of motherhood? 

Read to know the best time to take a pregnancy test and more. 

When Is the Best Time to Take A Pregnancy Test?

Community Expert Dr Pooja Marathe says, “It’s always better to do a morning test as it tends to be the best time to take home pregnancy tests. The hCG levels in urine are concentrated after a night without much drinking and peeing. If you’re still very early in your pregnancy and hCG levels are only starting to rise, it may be wise not to test at night.”

Plus, wait for one week to take a pregnancy test after you’ve missed your period or at least for two weeks after having sex. It’s the best way to prevent a false negative result. This means it will reduce the chances of missing an early pregnancy if the HCG levels are too low to be picked up by the test. 

What Not to Do Before Taking A Pregnancy Test? 

Community Expert Dr Pooja Marathe says, “Don’t drink too much water, or any liquid, before taking a pregnancy test. Excess fluids can impact the accuracy of the test results, so if your urine is diluted or pale yellow, hold off on taking a test. Diluted urine also tends to have diluted hCG levels which can skew the test results. You need to wait for at least 1 minute till you get your results.

How Accurate Is A Home Pregnancy Test? 

According to Community Expert Dr Pooja Marathe, urine home pregnancy tests are about 99% accurate. Blood tests are even more accurate.

A home test’s accuracy depends on the following things:

• How closely you are able to follow the instructions.
• When you ovulate and how soon the egg implantation would take care
• How soon after pregnancy do you take the test 
• The sensitivity of the pregnancy test depends on the time you take the test

Plus, if you take certain medications, they usually don’t interfere with the test results until they are for hCG.

Waiting for the best time to take a pregnancy test can make some people anxious. Hence, you might want to take it as soon as possible. However, waiting for the best time can make the results accurate. Either take it one week after missing your period or at least two weeks after having sex.