Is A False Negative Pregnancy Test Common?

Is A False Negative Pregnancy Test Common?

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Home Pregnancy Tests

Home pregnancy tests are a simple, affordable and private way for women to see whether or not they are pregnant. Although cheap to purchase, home pregnancy tests are very effective if the directions are followed precisely. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here

However, sometimes there are factors that affect the accuracy of a home pregnancy test, and can give a false negative result.  A false negative pregnancy test is a test in which a woman receives a negative result, meaning that she is not pregnant, although she really is. False negative pregnancy tests are actually very common. Read on for a list of the most common reasons why false negative pregnancy tests occur.

Testing Too Early

By far, the most common cause of a false negative pregnancy test is testing too early. When women think that they might possibly be pregnant, waiting to take a pregnancy test and find out for sure can be very difficult. The urge to test too soon is incredibly hard to resist and this can lead some women to test too soon.

Although some pregnancy tests say that they are able to detect the pregnancy hormone in the body faster, this is not always true, and not all women who are pregnant will get a positive result from these tests. You see, the only way to get a positive result on a home pregnancy test is to wait until the body has a chance to build up enough hCG in the system. hCG is the “pregnancy hormone”, produced by the placenta shortly after conception.

These levels continue to rise each day that a woman is pregnant, until they begin to level off. There has to be enough of a concentration of hCG in the body for it to be picked up by a home pregnancy test. This is the reason that testing too early can be a big cause of false negative pregnancy tests. The best time to take a home pregnancy test for accurate results is after the first day of your missed period.

Not Following Instructions

Another common reason for a false negative pregnancy test is that the woman using the test does not follow instructions properly. Each home pregnancy test comes with its own set of very unique and important instructions that need to be followed completely.

It’s very important to always read the instructions completely before taking a home pregnancy test. For example, if there is a certain amount of time that the test asks you to hold the test strip into the midstream urine, and you do not do that, it can result in a false negative.

Timing problems also sometimes lead to false negative pregnancy tests. Each test has a certain amount of time that a woman needs to wait before reading the results. Reading the results too early or after too much time has passed can result in a false negative test. This is why it is very important to closely follow all instructions when it comes to taking a home pregnancy test.

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Maureen Stephens, BS, RN
Maureen Stephens, BS, RN | ConceiveEasy
Ms. Stephens has spent over twenty years in the healthcare world, specializing in obstretical and medical/surgical nursing. She joined ConceiveEasy as she has a strong interest in educating and empowering women and promoting fertility awareness.

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