Pregnancy tests have become a very reliable tool that women can use to find out if they are pregnant or not. This means they no longer have to run to the doctor’s office each time they think they are expecting a baby.

Nowadays, they can test for pregnancy with a simple hCG urine pregnancy test effortlessly, right from the privacy of their home. The only thing they need to make an effort in with the testing procedure is choosing the brand and the type of test. 

hCG Urine Test Selection

At-home pregnancy tests on the market these days offer a selection of options and designs, and all the choices can be overwhelming. 

Some claim to detect the human chorionic gonadotropin hCG in urine from the first day of your missed period, while others state their tests can detect it as early as six days prior. Then there are digital ones, pregnancy tests with and without droppers, or line tests. Some require room temp storage, while others will take your refrigerator space. 

If there’s such a variety, how do you pick the right one? Easy, by reading reviews like this. Hopefully, today we’ll be able to help you decide on which test to buy. But before that, here’s a quick overview of how tests work and what triggers the positive and negative results.

How Does a Pregnancy Test Work?

Tests work by analyzing your urine for hCG or the pregnancy hormone. Namely, the hCG gets released into your bloodstream and your urine once the egg is fertilized in your uterus. 

The safest way to know for sure is to test with your morning urine on the first day of your missed period. Statistics show that testing a bit later ensures more precise results since your body has enough time to produce hCG for better detection.

HCG doubles in your urine with each passing day two weeks after conception. So, to truly get the 99% accuracy that the tests claim to deliver, testing with morning urine after the first day of your missed period guarantees the best results. However, even though all tests work by detecting hCG in your urine and have a similar test procedure, not mean all of them are created equal. 

Each one offers something different when it comes to hCG sensitivity, delivery time, and reading results. This is why you have to pick the one that will suit you the most.

Quickvue One-Step hCG Urine Test Review

One of the brand choices out there that you’ll see quite often is the Quickvue one-step hCG urine test. It is so widely used because it works exceptionally well and comes at a low cost. This way, you truly get your money’s worth with Quickvue’s qualitative detection of human chorionic gonadotropin hCG in urine.

Sometimes getting the most expensive hCG urine test does not have to mean reliable and accurate results. When trying to get pregnant, you will be testing at different times throughout your cycle and not every time get accurate results because of the hCG levels. And if you’ve been doing this for a while now, you know that testing often will make the costs add up.

So, getting an hCG urine test with a low price tag does have some significant advantages. Mainly because it guarantees the same level of accuracy as the expensive names on the market. With the Quickvue one-step hCG urine test, you can stock up your cabinet as they have a long shelf life, and rest assured that you have a test available at any moment. 

How Accurate is the Quickvue Pregnancy Test?

The Quickvue one-step hCG urine test offers reliable testing with an accuracy of over 99% when following the instructions. Of course, such a percentage is guaranteed when testing on or after the first day of your missed period. Unlike other pregnancy tests on the market, the one-step hCG urine test isn’t meant to be used as an early detection hCG urine test. This is because the Quickvue pregnancy test uses qualitative detection of human chorionic gonadotropin hCG in urine.

So, use it as per the instructions and note that it may give you a false-negative result if used before the recommended date. This is because the Quickvue one-step hCG urine test is not as sensitive to low hCG levels as other early detection pregnancy tests. 

A week before the expected period, the hCG levels in the urine are about 10-15 mIU ml, so the early detection pregnancy tests need to have a 12.5 mIU ml sensitivity. Any test above the 12.5 mIU ml sensitivity mark won’t give you the correct results.

To detect pregnancy on the first day of your expected or missed period, you need to pick a test with a 25 mIU ml sensitivity. On that day, the human chorionic gonadotropin levels have grown enough to be detectable by tests like the Quickvue one-step hCG urine test. So, accuracy is guaranteed.

Some women may produce slightly less hCG initially. If you are one of them and get a negative result even though you missed your period, that does not mean that the Quickvue pregnancy test is inaccurate. That only means that your body is still adjusting to the pregnancy, and it needs some time to catch up with the process. For the best results with your urine test, you should also retest on your missed period’s 3rd and 7th day. By this time, a test with 25 mIU ml sensitivity will be able to detect any hCG changes in your urine.

We understand that all these numbers and directions may make you anxious about a good urine test option, but try to enjoy the process. Expecting a baby is a special thing and should not be ruined by picking a simple test, mainly because stress is a significant factor in period consistency and conceiving. Missing a period isn’t always a sign of pregnancy, and continual worrying about the result will not be doing your body any favor.

With that said, having an irregular period is a reason to visit your doctor and do some blood tests. If you are still testing negative after a week, yet there is no sign of your period, you need to consider getting a blood pregnancy test done. Such a test will detect even the slightest change in hCG in your blood and will give you the much-expected answer.

How Does the Quickvue One-Step hCG Urine Test Work?

There are differences in how tests pick up urine sample and how each one analyses it. So, although they all detect the human chorionic gonadotropin hCG in the urine, the test procedure is different.

Most tests nowadays have a test stick that you should hold under your urine stream for five seconds to produce a result. The Quickvue pregnancy test has a dropper instead. Many women prefer the dropper style because it doesn’t create a mess, and it takes away the guessing when it comes to how long to hold a stick for. 

Plus, it ensures that when using the clean and sterile dropper with the cup, you minimize the chances of contamination and, therefore, the user error factor that may lead to a wrong result.

How to Properly Take the Quickvue Urine Test?

You should be prepared when taking the test. You will need a dry, clean cup and the dropper that comes with the hCG test. Always do this first thing in the morning, as the hCG levels in your urine are the most concentrated at that time. 

When collecting the urine, don’t overfill the cup as you only need a small amount for the test. Due to the cup and pipe system of the Quickvue urine test, the entire process is very neat, won’t create any mess, and is a lot more hygienic overall.

Once you fill the cup, wash your hands before using the dropper not to contaminate the sample. However, do not wait a lot between collecting the urine sample and using it on your hCG test. Time is of the essence here as you don’t want your urine oxidizing and losing its content.

Once you fill the cup, take one of the small clear pink tubes from the test kit and place its end in the cup. Squeeze the end of the pipette that you are holding so that the other end can take in some urine. 

In the Quickvue pregnancy test, you will see a set of result readers in charge of the testing of your urine. Use a clean and fresh one with every sample because these aren’t reusable.

Take the urine-filled dropper to the test and squeeze out a few drops onto the circular pad of the testing strip. Don’t use a lot of urine content, though. This will overflow the test’s capacity and result in an error. Just remember, less is more.

Once you drop enough urine in the testing strip, leave the test on a flat surface with the result window facing up. At that point, there is nothing left for you to do but wait for three minutes. It may seem like an impossible task, but checking your results earlier may give you the wrong outcome.

In the first several seconds, you will see a thin blue line appearing on the window. This doesn’t mean a negative or a positive result yet. It simply means that your urine sample was collected, and the test is currently processing it. 

If you don’t see a line forming in the first 20-30 seconds or at all in those three minutes, you should throw away the test and try with another one. It either means that an error has been made or that the test was invalid from the start. Once the three-minute mark is made, you will get a precise result.

Reading the Results

You get a positive result when there is a second blue line next to the testing line that appeared initially. These blue lines will faint in time, especially early in the process when you don’t have a lot of hCG in your urine. Even if you get two faint lines, you should know that this is still a positive result.

Because the lines may fade, you should read the result immediately after the three-minute mark and then dispose of it. If you are left with the first blue line on your test after three minutes and a second one did not show at all, that means the test is negative. 

If you tested early in the process, redoing the test is recommended to ensure the result. Just remember, when retesting, you need a new dropper, a new testing strip, and a new clean cup.

Final Thoughts on the Quickvue One-Step hCG Urine Test 

The Quickvue One-Step hCG Urine Test is an excellent affordable alternative when it comes to testing for pregnancy. It delivers accurate results with 99% certainty when used according to the instructions. It requires room temp storage and has a long shelf life not to take up any refrigerator space.

Although this isn’t for early detection of pregnancy, this hCG test will notice even the most minor changes in your urine after the first day of your missed period.

However, if you are impatient and want to know whether you are expecting as soon as possible, you should go with another test for early pregnancy detection. Those tests can be used on the sixth day before the expected period, the earliest. All in all, the Quickvue pregnancy test is fast, easy, affordable, and above all, reliable.