Pregnancy Test Review

Introduction to Pregnancy Tests

Identifying the best home pregnancy tests comes down to two criteria: sensitivity and ease of interpretation. For evaluations in both areas, we turned to comparative reviews by Consumer Reports magazine and a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, both of which compare more than a dozen brands of home pregnancy tests. Consumer Reports' testing isn't as up-to-date as that of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (though both studies are more than three years old). Both reviewers evaluate 18 pregnancy tests, and reviews agree on the same winner. We also examined listings of detected hCG levels among home pregnancy tests at FertilityPlus.org, MommyGuide.com and BabyHopes.com, none of which perform their own testing. The most up-to-date of these hCG charts is at Baby Hopes, who last updated their information in July 2007.

The study by Cole and associates in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that two brands had "technical or design problems." One in six Confirm home pregnancy tests and three in six Clear Choice home pregnancy tests gave a false-positive result. Some brands, including Answer Quick & Simple, Sav-on from Osco drugstores, Clear Choice and Confirm (all *est. $9 to $14), also failed to display a control line, which indicates that the test is working correctly.

Durex Canada announced in March 2007 that would voluntarily withdraw Confirm Clearly Smart Pregnancy Tests from the market due to "an unexpected amount of consumer complaints." The blogger at Tammy's Recipes even reports that her husband tried this test, and it showed that he was pregnant. Anyone who has purchased this test and wishes to receive a refund may do so by filling out a form on the Confirm Clearly website.

Since many women want to know as soon as possible whether they're pregnant, tests with increased sensitivity have been developed and have flooded the market in recent years. Still, it doesn't matter how sensitive a test is if you have trouble deciphering the results. All tests should have a control line to indicate the test is working properly. Most use a second line, either in a separate window or in a plus-sign shape, to indicate a positive result, but some, like Clearblue Easy Digital and e.p.t 1-Step Digital, have a digital display that says either "pregnant" or "not pregnant."