Know this: All Clearblue® pregnancy tests are over 99% accurate from the day you expect your period. False positives very rarely occur, and are often due to medical conditions or certain medications. False negatives, while more common, typically occur due to testing too early or drinking too much liquid before testing.
A false-positive test result only happens less than 1% of the time, but when it does, it can make the following days or weeks confusing before you realize you're not actually pregnant.
“False positive pregnancy tests are rare and occur less than 1 percent of the time,” confirms DuMontier. Generally speaking, there will be a contributing factor if you're seeing a false positive pregnancy test. If not, you can assume the test you've used is faulty in some way.
That's rare. But it is possible to get a positive result from a home pregnancy test when you're not pregnant. This is called a false-positive. A false-positive might happen if you had a pregnancy loss soon after the fertilized egg attached to the uterine lining.
Most home pregnancy tests are reliable, for example Clearblue's tests have an accuracy of over 99% from the day you expect your period, and while it's possible a test showing a negative result is wrong, particularly if you're testing early, getting a false positive is extremely rare.
Whereas some at-home digital pregnancy tests have a sensitivity of 20 mIU/mL (meaning there needs to be at least 20 mIU/mL of hCG in the urine), the Natalist test has a sensitivity level of 10 mIU/mL, making it more sensitive.
For your result to be 'Pregnant' (positive) there must be a blue line in the control window and a '+' symbol in the result window within 10 minutes of testing. It does not matter if one of the lines that make up the '+' symbol is lighter or darker than the other; the result is 'Pregnant'.
Highly sensitive
Our most sensitive digital pregnancy test detects hCG, with a sensitivity of 10mIU/ml.
What level of hCG can pregnancy tests detect? Generally, most home pregnancy tests claim to detect hCG levels from 25 mIU/ml. However, some tests, such as the Clearblue® Early Digital Pregnancy Test and the Clearblue Early Detection Pregnancy Test, are so sensitive they can detect hCG levels as low as 10 mIU/ml.
If you test early, your hCG levels may be still be low and you'll see a faint positive line. You can avoid getting faint lines by using a digital test, use the first urine in the morning if testing early, and don't drink too much liquid before testing.
The Best Pregnancy Test
After additional research and testing, we continue to recommend First Response Early Result, which remains the most sensitive home pregnancy test of its kind. We still think Clearblue Digital is the best choice if you prefer a digital wand test.
hCG is the hormone that all home pregnancy tests detect. Certain pregnancy tests like the Clearblue Early Detection Pregnancy Test can detect hCG in the urine up to 6 days before a missed period (which is 5 days before the expected period).
Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Smart Countdown
If you take the test on or after the first day of your expected period, the results are 99 percent accurate. That said, the test is sensitive enough to detect pregnancy five days before a missed period.
Clearblue Ultra Early is our most sensitive test meaning you can test up to 6 days before your missed period (which is 5 days before your expected period).
For example, a First Response Early Result will only detect a pregnancy in 62% of women when used 6 days early as advertised – that's a 1 in 3 chance of being wrong.
If the test result is 'Pregnant' a numerical result: "1-2", "2-3" or "3+", is also displayed indicating that conception occurred 1 to 2 weeks ago, 2 to 3 weeks ago or 3 or more weeks ago.
About 11-14 days after implantation, a woman's hCG levels are high enough to start causing early pregnancy symptoms. Some of these might include fatigue, food cravings, darkening in the color of the nipples, or gastrointestinal changes. When a woman experiences these symptoms, a pregnancy test may show up positive.
First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test
Both our experts agree that First Response Early Results is one of the most sensitive home pregnancy tests available with the ability to accurately test levels of hCG five days before your expected period.
If your pregnancy test results seem to be getting lighter, it could be because you tested after drinking water and your urine was more diluted. Or, the first test result could have been an evaporation line and not a positive result. Test again in the morning for a more accurate result.
A: There will always be 2 lines- pregnant or not. That is why you do not open a digital test. It is not meant to to be opened.
Some pregnancy tests, like Clearblue Digital, will give you a clear answer in words like 'Pregnant' or 'Not Pregnant', however, many tests will show two lines if you're pregnant.