During the first few days of pregnancy, a fertilised embryo attaches to the uterine lining and your body begins to release a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG).

Pregnancy tests determine whether you are pregnant or not by trying to detect this hormone in either your blood or your urine. Urine tests can be carried out at home while blood tests are carried out by your local GP.

Positive Result

If you have just done a home pregnancy test and find that your test is showing a positive result, it is almost certain that you are pregnant. The test has positively detected the pregnancy hormone HCG in your urine.

Negative Result

A negative result can be slightly more ambiguous. It either means; you are not pregnant, you took the test too early so not enough hormone was present in your urine yet, or you took the test incorrectly. Be aware that some home pregnancy tests are more sensitive to detecting HCG than others.

What Should I do if I Take Multiple Tests and get Different Results?

In this circumstance, we recommended that you visit your GP and have a blood test done to get an accurate answer, however you will have to wait slightly longer to receive the results from this test.

If you find out that you are pregnant, why not book a First Encounter’s earlyAssure™ scan? Available as soon as 8 weeks after conception, this is a scan you can attend before your first NHS scan to seek reassurance about numerous aspects of the pregnancy.