When to take the pregnancy test?
When is the best time to take a pregnancy test, morning or evening? Can you get tested immediately after intercourse? And are there differences between regular and irregular cycles? Here are all the answers you are looking for!
The pregnancy test is an extremely reliable method of finding out if you are pregnant. To get reliable results, however, it’s important to know when to do it , as well as do it correctly.
When to take a pregnancy test after intercourse?
A test performed a few hours or a few days after intercourse cannot be considered valid.
For reliable results, normal urine pregnancy tests should be performed after the first day of missed periods , if the woman has a regular cycle or knows when to ovulate .
There are also early pregnancy tests on the market which, thanks to their high sensitivity, can be carried out as early as 5 or 6 days before the period .
Waiting until the first day of delay, however, increases the likelihood that the test will detect pregnancy. In some cases, in fact, the beta hCG hormone could have levels that are still too low to be identified by a urine test and the result could be negative even if the woman is actually pregnant . This phenomenon is defined with the term false negative .
Another risk is that of obtaining unclear results, caused by the presence of a weak second line .
When to take a pregnancy test with an irregular cycle?
In case of an irregular cycle , to reduce the risk of false negatives it would be advisable to consider a longer cycle and carry out a pregnancy test the next day .
Example: if the duration of menstrual cycles varies from 27 to 33 days, the test should preferably be performed after the 33rd day.
Alternatively, the advice is to wait at least the first day of delay compared to the average duration of the cycle and in case of a negative result, repeat the test after 4-10 days .
Example: to calculate when to take the pregnancy test in the case mentioned above, it is necessary to consider an average duration of the menstrual cycle of 30 days (27+33=60 and 60:2= 30).
When to take a second pregnancy test?
If the test is negative but you still have doubts , for example in case of irregular cycles or suspicious symptoms, it is recommended to repeat it after 4-10 days (obviously in case menstruation does not occur).
Sometimes, the results can be false negatives because the test has expired , there have been procedural errors , or because the amount of beta-HCG is still too low to be detectable.
This usually happens when the test is done too early or because conception occurred later than the calculations made.
If, on the other hand, the test is positive , the result is rarely a false one. However, in 1 in 10 conception, the implantation of the embryo in the uterus may fail . In this case, a first pregnancy test will give a positive result, while a second one taken a few days later will give a negative result: when this happens, it is called a biochemical pregnancy .
When to take the pregnancy test: morning or evening?
The ideal time to take a pregnancy test is as soon as you get up in the morning . This is because the urine is more concentrated and the likelihood of detecting the beta hCG hormone is higher.
In any case, it is also possible to take the test at other times of the day: be careful, however, not to take too many liquids in the previous 2 hours , so as not to excessively dilute the urine and thus mask the presence of beta-HCG.
What if the test is negative but your periods don’t come?
If your period hasn’t come or is late, you can take a pregnancy test right away . This condition, however, does not necessarily mean that you are pregnant – there are several reasons why your period can be delayed.
The absence of menstruation (which takes the name of amenorrhea ) can in fact also be caused by situations of high stress , weight changes , medical treatments and other health reasons .
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.