If you think you may be pregnant, you can either take a home pregnancy test or get a laboratory test done at doctor's office or clinic.
Home pregnancy tests
Home pregnancy tests are available at many grocery and drug stores. You have probably seen them when walking down the aisle where you find condoms and feminine products. You can look for brand names such as First Response, ClearBlue, Fact Plus, e.p.t. and many others. These tests are all simple urine tests. Follow the directions on the box and simply urinate on a particular area of the device, and it will give you a yes or no answer to whether or not you are pregnant - in a variety of ways (such as blue or pink, plus or minus, etc.), depending upon the band. These tests cost around $10 to $15, and some recommend doing the test twice, a week apart, which bumps the price up $3 or $4 dollars, because there are two tests in the box. The reason for the two tests is that the home pregnancy tests can have a high rate of false negatives - the test says you are not pregnant when you really are - ranging from 25% to 38%. In addition, they also have a 16% rate of false positives - the test says you are pregnant when you really are not. However, these tests are very convenient and private. If you use this type of testing, make sure that you follow the directions very carefully to get the most accurate results. You can take these tests anytime after your first missed period. Therefore, if you do miss your period, take the test as soon as possible.
Laboratory tests
Your other option is getting a laboratory test done by at a clinic or a doctor's office. Planned Parenthood is a good place to go if you do not already have a family doctor or want high quality, cost-effective service. The medical methods of detecting pregnancy consist of either urine or blood tests, and maybe even a pelvic exam. Many people have gotten urine tests or blood tests before, and these ones are not much different than other routine exams. Similarly, many women get pelvic exams when they begin to be sexually active or when they reach a certain age. These tests should not sound intimidating because they are done at a doctor's office. The test can be done in a matter of minutes and it is 98% to 99% accurate. Therefore, one should focus on the normalcy and accuracy of the tests. However, even medical tests can produce false negatives, if the test is done too early, or if there is an error in the process. Because of the chance of false negatives and false positives occurring in either types of test (home or laboratory), if you do take the home pregnancy test, it is wise to get a second test done at a laboratory as well, in order to be absolutely sure whether you are pregnant or not. These tests are done after your first missed period, just as the home pregnancy tests are.
Other options and how the tests work
The only test that you can take sooner than your first missed period is the beta-hCG-radioimmunoassay. It is much more expensive, but you can take it seven days after conception. This test shows exactly how pregnancy tests work: They detect a hormone in the woman's blood or urine that is only found in pregnant women. This hormone is the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and it is secreted by the placenta - an organ which is attached to the uterine wall, connected to the conceptus/fetus.
© - Reproduced with permission of SexInfo, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2007.