Urine Pregnancy Test (UPT)
Urine Pregnancy Test (UPT)
- Urine Pregnancy Test is done to confirm pregnancy
- No preparation is required and the test can be done at home also
- The test finds out the presence of a special hormone – human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the urine. This hormone is formed in the body only if you are pregnant.
What is Urine Pregnancy Test (UPT) ?
Urine Pregnancy Test (UPT) is done by putting a few drops of your urine on a special strip or card. Keep the strip under the midstream urine for 7-10 seconds and then place it on a flat surface for 5 minutes. There is a colored control line on the strip. If another colored line appears then the test is positive for pregnancy. UPT measure the presence of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the Urine. This hormone is produced by the placenta which is present only during pregnancy. Placenta is formed within 6-8 days after the fertilized egg attaches to the Uterine wall. This hormone is found both in the Urine and the blood. This hormone is found earlier in the blood than in the urine. Blood test – Beta HCG confirms pregnancy earlier than Urine Pregnancy Test. Urine Pregnancy test confirms pregnancy in 10 days time from the date of conception.
Reported Parameters
Positive or Negative
All The Questions that you might have
- How accurate is Urine Pregnancy Test done at home ?
- Which test is better for confirming pregnancy – UPT, B-HCG or Ultrasound ?
Urine Pregnancy Kits are available at the pharmacy shop. The strip in the kit detects the presence of HCG hormone in the urine. If the kit is from a good company and the test is done as per the instructions then the results are almost 99% accurate.
You can urinate in a vessel and then place few drops of the urine on the strip. You can also hold the strip under the urine stream or dip the strip into the vessel containing urine.
Few things that need to be kept in mind for accurate results are :
- Do not rush for the test. Urine Pregnancy test comes positive about 10 days after conception but to be doubly sure you should do the test once you miss the periods.
- Use the first urine of the morning for doing the test.
- Do not drink excessive liquids before doing the test.
- Follow the instructions that come with the kit.
The Urine Pregnancy Test (UPT) is done using urine sample. Beta HCG test is done using blood sample. While UPT can be done at home, Beta HCG can only be done in the laboratory. Both these tests look for the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the body which is present only during pregnancy. B-HCG confirms pregnancy about 4-5 days before the UPT. However both the tests can mislead you between Uterine pregnancy and Ectopic Pregnancy. Ultrasound is the only test which confirms whether it is a uterine pregnancy or ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a life threatening condition for the woman and is the situation in which the egg gets fertilized in the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus.
