Early Pregnancy Test: When Do You Start Testing?

Many women who want to have children want to know as early as possible whether they are pregnant. Preferably before their period stops. An early pregnancy test makes it possible.

If you are planning a baby and would like to get pregnant as soon as possible, you hope with each cycle: Did it work this time? Or maybe you have had an artificial insemination and are now excitedly waiting in the waiting loop? Particularly impatient people rely on early pregnancy tests, which are said to be able to predict pregnancy as early as five days before a period is missed. How exactly these tests work and how reliable they are can be found out here.

Early pregnancy test or pregnancy test: What’s the difference?

An early pregnancy test measures the hormone HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is produced exclusively during pregnancy, in urine in the same way as the conventional pregnancy test. The only difference between the two tests lies in the sensitivity of the measurement.

An early test reacts to even the smallest amounts of HCG – so this test can be used earlier than a classic pregnancy test. The amount of hCG in the body doubles approximately every 2 to 3 days and reaches its maximum value in the 12th week of pregnancy.

Are there different early pregnancy tests?

Pharmacies and drugstores offer a wide range of pregnancy tests that differ not only in price. The big difference is much more in the sensitivity. So if you want to be as certain as possible whether you are pregnant or not, you should pay attention to the sensitivity when buying an early pregnancy test.

You can recognise this by the lowest mlU/ml number on the package. Some early tests react already at a concentration of 10 mIU/ml (milli International Units per millilitre) of HCG in the urine – so they are very sensitive – others show a pregnancy only at an HCG level of 20 mIU/ml. In contrast, classical pregnancy tests only react at an HCG level of 25 mIU/ml.

How reliable is an early pregnancy test?

Early pregnancy tests should always be used with caution. It is not uncommon for the result to be false negative 5 days before your period – i.e. the test is negative despite pregnancy. The reason: the amount of HCG in the urine is not yet sufficient or the test is not sensitive enough to measure this low concentration.

But: If the early pregnancy test is positive, you can actually expect a pregnancy.

Another reason: The probability of complications is highest during the implantation period. It is not uncommon for the egg to fail to implant despite being fertilised and then disappear again with menstruation. Most women therefore often do not even notice that they were pregnant. Especially on a psycho-emotional level, it is therefore sometimes better to wait for the period to stop and look out for other signs of pregnancy.

When can an early pregnancy test be done?

A pregnancy test is of course only useful if the hormone HCG could be produced by the embryo at all. What happens in your body until then?

1. After ovulation and successful fertilisation, the egg moves towards the uterus.
2. The embryo, which has matured into a zygote, nests in the uterus after about a week.
3. After two more days, the embryo begins to form HCG.
4. This stimulates the corpus luteum, which then produces progesterone and oestrogen.
5. This in turn signals the uterine lining that it is needed.
6. Menstruation is prevented and the embryo continues to develop.
7. Once HCG production has started, the value doubles every two days. Ten days after fertilisation, the average value is 2 mlU/ml.
8. The maximum value is reached in the 12th week of pregnancy.

This means: If you want to do an early test, you should not test before the 10th day after fertilization. But keep in mind: Every woman is different and the day of fertilisation cannot always be determined exactly. Therefore you are on the safer side if you wait a day or two longer – even if it is difficult for you.

Early pregnancy test – yes or no?

• For couples with a long-cherished desire to have children, the time until the period in each cycle is especially torturous. An early pregnancy test shortens the waiting time.
• If it is positive, you are definitely pregnant at that time. If the early pregnancy test is negative, you should definitely repeat it after a few days.
• A false-negative result can be very distressing – especially if it was not the first time. Therefore, you should think about waiting another two or three days before you take the early test. Also, you may avoid an early exit, which is often difficult for many women to cope with.

An early pregnancy test for artificial insemination

In order to stimulate egg maturation, it is not uncommon to administer drugs containing HCG. Unfortunately, a pregnancy test cannot detect pregnancy in such cases, as it would react to the HCG in your urine in any case – a false positive result is therefore inevitable. For this reason, in the case of artificial insemination, a blood test will be carried out 14 days after the eggs have been inserted to confirm that you are pregnant or, unfortunately, that it did not work.

How to apply an early pregnancy test?

The procedure is very simple and does not differ in the use of a classic pregnancy test:

1. Simply hold the test strip or the sensor tip of the digital test in your urine stream.
2. Then place it on a flat surface.
3. Alternatively, you can also collect the urine in a clean cup and dip the test with the tip.
4. After a short waiting period, you will know if you are pregnant.

IMPORTANT: Please read the package insert carefully before evaluation. There you will also find information about waiting times and application, which can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

TIP: It is best to use morning urine. This is where the HCG concentration is highest.