Best Pregnancy Test

Best Pregnancy Test
Consumer Reports senior editor Nancy Metcalf talks about the best pregnancy tests and ovulation kits available.

"We conducted the tests as instructed on each product's package insert," CR says. Performance:
One kit, the First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test, emerged as the most reliable and sensitive test. "Most other kits were far less sensitive - the five least sensitive tests couldn't detect hCG below concentrations of about 100 MIU/ml at their specified reading times. Confirm's Pregnancy Test ($11.19/2 tests) scored lowest, with a final score of "Poor" ("fair," hCG sensitivity; "poor," ease of reading; and "fair," 10-minute hCG sensitivity, with some samples failing to work properly).

Ratings

First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test
($18.09 for two)
Consumer Reports Rating: Excellent

Confirm Pregnancy Test
($11.19 for two)
Consumer Reports Rating: Poor

Recommendations:
Although CR calls the First Response test "a superior choice," it warns, "Women need to use home pregnancy test kits with a clear understanding of their limitations."

It explains that testing for hCG is not the same in all women. Research has proven that LH surge is among the best indicators of ovulation, and the kits that Consumer Reports tested are based on LH measurement.

Ten of the 11 kits tested worked like home pregnancy tests, using monoclonal antibody sensing technology. "Since ovulation detection will almost certainly require multiple tests," says CR, "the kits include five or more individual test sticks."

Performance:
In conjunction with an independent lab, Consumer Reports tested each model with urine spiked with various concentrations of LH. "At the other end of the spectrum," CR says, "we had to spike the test urine with the highest LH concentration we tested - 91 mIU/ml - before we obtained a positive reading from the First Response Pregnancy Planning Kit. Only 20percent to 25percent of women have an LH peak that high. Those results cast doubt on the product's label, which claims it contains enough test sticks 'for 90percent of ovulating women to detect hormone surge.'"

Amazingly, though, that wasn't even the worst-performing test Consumer Reports found. Answer Quick & Simple One-Step Ovulation Test got that dubious honor. "In laboratory tests using urine with an LH concentration of 91 mIU/ml, only one of six tested Answer kits registered positive. In the end, the ClearPlan Easy Ovulation Test Pack ($30.32/5 tests) won, with a borderline "Very Good/Excellent" overall rating (it received an "excellent" for LH sensitivity and was easier to read than most others, but again, it will not detect the LH surge of approximately 12percent of women).
First Response Early Result repeatedly tests as the most sensitive home pregnancy test on the market in scientific studies and consumer reviews. Both scientific studies and consumer testing also find the First Response Early Result to be one of the easiest nondigital pregnancy tests to interpret at low concentrations of hCG. Experts recommend you buy First Response Early Result in two-test kits, as testing again a week later will greatly increase the accuracy of the test. Digital tests like the Clearblue Easy Digital Pregnancy Test (*Est. $18 for three-test kit) are more expensive and less sensitive but do clearly say pregnant or not pregnant.
A major consumer reporting group also offers independent testing to verify the sensitivities and readability of various home pregnancy tests.