Pregnancy

You may suspect that you are pregnant if you are experiencing signs such as soreness of breast, nausea and vomiting and you also missed your period. All the symptoms are quite clearly indicating that you are pregnant and it's the time for you to take a pregnancy test.

Most of the women prefer home pregnancy tests over pregnancy tests done by their doctors, especially when they notice early signs of pregnancy. In past the accuracy of these home pregnancy tests were questioned and scrutinized.

But with the advancement made by mankind in the field of medical science, most home pregnancy tests now claim to be "greater than 99 percent accurate" and imply that you can use them as early as the day you miss your period.

Home pregnancy test: How they work

Almost all the pregnancy tests look for a particular hormone either in urine/blood or both. This hormone popularly known as pregnancy hormone is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) which is made in your body when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. The amount of hCG increases drastically with each passing day of pregnancy.

Most home pregnancy tests claim they can confirm your pregnancy on the very first day you miss your period. But experts recommend, for accurate results, carry this test after waiting one week after a missed period.

Home pregnancy tests (HPT) also known as midstream pregnancy tests measure hCG in your urine. The most sensitive test is best performed by a laboratory using a sample of your blood. However home pregnancy test is accurate enough if one adheres to following instructions.

• Most home pregnancy tests are done with the first urine of the morning as this urine is most concentrated and a high amount of hCG is expected in it.
  
  
• Incase you are not monitoring the first urine of the morning; make sure the urine you are using for the test has been in your bladder for at least 4-5 hours.
  
  
• Keeping the test in mind, don't intake extra fluid as it can dilute the urine and making hCG untraceable.
  
  
• If you are taking any other medication, including fertility drugs, read the package inserts before testing as those medication can alter the results.
  

If you get a positive home pregnancy test, make sure to seek prenatal care from your medical practitioner.

While pregnancy a woman's body goes through a number of incredible changes, so it's absolutely must proper prenatal care should be provided to the baby as well as the mother. Pregnancy will be the period when a mother will develop a life long emotional attachment with the baby, who will change her life forever.Therefore we can say pregnancy and birth remains the most amazing, life changing event for any woman.