When Should You Take a Pregnancy Test for Accuracy? | Mylife Medical & Resource Center

Are you wondering if you might be pregnant? It’s natural to have questions, the most common being about the best time to take a pregnancy test. Most at-home pregnancy tests are 99% accurate when taken on the first day of your missed menstrual period.

Continue reading to understand how pregnancy tests function and what steps to take if you test positive. Alternatively, if you’re seeking a no-cost pregnancy test, reach out to My Life Medical & Resource Center. We provide no-cost lab-quality pregnancy tests and a follow-up limited ultrasound to support your health.

About Pregnancy Tests

Human chorionic g o nadotropin (hCG) is a hormone produced during pregnancy and can be detected through blood and urine tests, as its levels increase quickly in the early stages of pregnancy.

The optimal time to take a pregnancy test is a few days after a missed period or about three weeks after sexual intercourse, allowing enough time for hCG to accumulate in your body and improve the accuracy of the test.

Regular monitoring of hCG levels through blood work is common among many women, particularly to assess the risk of miscarriage.

Best Time To Take One

The timing of a pregnancy test is crucial because hCG levels begin low and increase quickly. Taking a pregnancy test too early can result in a false negative, where hCG levels are not yet high enough to be detected, even though you are indeed pregnant.

For this reason, most at-home pregnancy tests advise waiting until the first day of your missed menstrual period before testing. This helps ensure the accuracy of the result by allowing sufficient time for hCG levels to rise.

Take the test first thing in the morning, when your urine is most concentrated.

Confirm Your Pregnancy

Taking an at-home test is just the start of confirming your pregnancy. Receive a lab-quality test, such as the ones provided by us at MyLife Medical & Resource Center and an ultrasound.

An ultrasound confirms key information about your pregnancy, such as gestational age, location, and viability. Knowing these details helps unlock your options moving forward and verifies your pregnancy.