When you think you might be pregnant, whether expected, planned or unexpected, and you want to know the results as early as possible, it is important that a home pregnancy test be accurate. Additionally, when you are nervous or excited about the test results, it’s also important that the home pregnancy test be easy to use and read.
So when you find yourself in need of a home pregnancy test, which one should you choose? Searching the Internet product reviews for pregnancy tests, three home pregnancy test kits are clearly consistently rated above the others. Let’s take a look at them now.
First Response Early Result Home Pregnancy Test
First Response Early Result clinical testing, according to the product insert information, indicates it may detect pregnancy as soon as four days prior to a missed period. Clinical testing indicates a 95% accuracy rate in detecting the pregnancy hormone on the first day of a missed period and only increases in accuracy each day after the missed period. In consumer testing, it has ranked highest on user ratings on the majority of product review websites, and has consistently scored favorable reviews or ratings on retail websites where ratings/reviews are allowed.
This home pregnancy test comes with a test stick with an absorbent tip, which you can use to dip in urine or urinate directly on the tip, preferably first thing in the morning, and then wait three minutes. After the three minute wait, the results window will display two pink lines if pregnant, and one pink line if not pregnant.
First Response Early Result is one of the few home pregnancy test kits available in one, two or three test packages. The recommended testing is to purchase a two test kit, test once when you think you might be pregnant, and then test again one week later to confirm the results. First Response Early Result home pregnancy test kits allow you the flexibility to do this. With an average retail price of about $15 for the two pregnancy test kit, First Response Early Result is a bit more expensive than generic brands, but shows to be a good value for home pregnancy tests.
Fact Plus Select Home Pregnancy Test
Fact Plus Select is a one step home pregnancy test, the same as First Response, with an absorbent tip for urine collection. Fact Plus Select also indicates on their packaging that a pregnancy test can be performed as early as four days before a missed period. Fact Plus Select pregnancy test also indicates only a two minute wait for results, but has a control window which will show a blue line when the test is ready to be read. The results are displayed in another window as a ‘plus’ + sign if pregnant and a ‘minus’ – sign if not pregnant.
The average price for the Fact Plus Select home pregnancy kit is about $13 for a two test kit, and it comes in two test home pregnancy kits and a single test home pregnancy kit. Fact Plus also recommends testing a second time, approximately one week after the first test to confirm the results.
Clearblue Easy Digital Home Pregnancy Test
Clearblue Easy Digital home pregnancy test has been advertising quite a bit recently, pushing the digital readout over the other pregnancy test results, claiming that a clear “yes” or “no” is much easier on the mind than being unsure about lines and colored lines and plus or minus signs. If looking for a test that is easy to read with no room for user error on interpreting the results, Clearblue is definitely the choice.
This product has a few more steps than the other two pregnancy tests listed here and some confusion because women are used to reading the dye lines to determine the results. Clearblue Easy still has dye lines, but the instructions clearly say to ignore the dye lines and read only the digital display that will read “pregnant” or “not pregnant”.
Clearblue Easy Digital is a bit more expensive than the other two home pregnancy tests as well, with an average retail price around $16 for a two test kit. However, for peace of mind, the clear digital reading may make the extra step in testing and the extra cost worth it to some women.
There are, of course, generic or store brand home pregnancy tests and other name brand home pregnancy tests that work well and provide similar accuracy, but these three tests have consistently scored well on consumer use ratings. As with any potential pregnancy, your doctor is the best choice to determine and confirm whether you are pregnant, but doctor’s appointments take much longer to get into than a home pregnancy test.
