What Could Cause A False Negative Pregnancy Test?


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Several things could cause a false negative pregnancy test. Having said that, it is important to realize at the start that it is relatively rare for this to happen, and that most pregnancy tests have a very high success rate, most in the 97-99% accuracy range. Things that can could cause a false negative pregnancy test might include an early attempt at pregnancy detection, a missed reaction time, or even improper use of the pregnancy test.

Probably the most common cause of a false negative pregnancy test is when a woman tries to take a pregnancy test before her body is producing hCG, or at least before her body is producing enough hCG for a pregnancy test to be able to register its presence. To understand how this happens, it is important to understand a bit about how exactly pregnancy occurs. Once an egg becomes fertilized, it then takes somewhere between 7 and 10 days for the fertilized egg to make the journey to the uterus, and to implant itself into the wall of the uterus. It is not until the fertilized egg is implanted in the wall of the uterus that the woman’s body begins to make hCG. Within 1 to 2 days of implantation, the woman’s body will be producing enough hCG for only the most sensitive of the pregnancy tests to be able to detect it. However, by the time that a woman has actually missed her period, almost all pregnancy test should be able to provide a positive result.

Another thing that can cause a false negative pregnancy test is a missed reaction time. What this means, essentially, is that the pregnancy test was not examined within the time specified in the instructions. The results of a test can fade or disappear over time, and if it has been longer than the test instructions indicate it is possible for the pregnancy test to show a negative result when the woman is actually pregnant.

Finally, improper use of a pregnancy test can cause a false negative pregnancy test. If the woman doesn’t dip the test properly, or if the test doesn’t make it correctly into the woman’s urine stream, there may not be enough urine on the test in order for the hCG in the urine to react with the chemicals that are on the test. As with a missed reaction time, it is important that the user of a pregnancy test follow the instructions very carefully in order to avoid getting a false negative pregnancy test.



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This entry was posted in Getting Pregnant.



 



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