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A confirmation of pregnancy can come as a blessing to most couples who have been trying to conceive for a really long time. Pregnant or not – this is the question that looms around hopeful couples for a long time. There are several methods to test your pregnancy and find out if you are carrying a little baby. While a lot of them sure add to the excitement of the pregnancy journey, only some tests come closer to revealing the truth. A very simple and doable test that can be done at your home is the baking soda test. This pregnancy test uses a kitchen staple to confirm your pregnancy. It is perfect if you don’t have access to a pregnancy test or if you simply can’t wait until you get one.
What is Baking Soda Pregnancy Test?
The baking soda pregnancy test is a simple homemade pregnancy test with baking soda that can be done anytime during the pregnancy. The idea behind the test is to add a few drops of the expecting mother’s urine to a spoonful of baking soda and check the acidity of the urine. If you are pregnant you will notice some fizz. This is because baking soda or sodium bicarbonate reacts with most acids. While there is no scientific backing to this test, it is said that it can even predict the gender of the baby.
Accuracy of Baking Soda Pregnancy Test
The accuracy percentage of this test is 50%. The result is compromised because the acidity of the urine depends on many other parameters in the body. The acidity level changes each day depending on the food intake, water intake, etc. making it a very poor and lose indicator of the pregnancy. On days when the mother is dehydrated because of vomiting or general reduction in the water intake, the urine tends to be more acidic leading to an incorrect prediction. Nevertheless, the baking soda test is a good predictor of the urine’s acidity.
How to Perform This Test?
This test is a very simple procedure that you can do at your home without any sophisticated equipment. While doing this test, you are very likely to feel like a laboratory scientist carrying out a fancy experiment.
What you need
To do the baking soda home pregnancy test, all you need some basic essentials found in your home.
- A spoonful of baking soda
- Some urine collected right before the test
- A container to collect the urine
- Another small container to hold the baking soda
Method
- Wash your hands before you collect the urine to prevent contaminating the sample. Wear latex gloves if needed
- Hold the container under yourself as you sit on the toilet and pee into it
- Take some baking soda in a glass container and add a few millilitres of urine onto it
- Right after the addition, if there is a fizz, it indicates that you are pregnant.
It is preferred that you perform this test using your first urine of the day as the urine may get diluted through the day as you drink water. This can alter or skew the results of the test. Although the quantity of the baking soda or urine required to perform the test isn’t specified, it is recommended that you use equal parts of both the items.
The baking soda pregnancy test directions are very simple and can be done as early as the first trimester. The HCG levels usually reach a high point after the tenth week of pregnancy and it is better to attempt this test after that.
While the test may not be entirely accurate, it can be a fun way to test your pregnancy results, especially if you don’t want to wait until you get a pregnancy test. It is also one way to add some excitement to the pregnancy process. However, in order to confirm your pregnancy, it is always recommended that you go to a doctor to get a more accurate result of your pregnancy. Your doctor will be able to perform some blood tests or urine tests to confirm your pregnancy.
Also Read:
Homemade Pregnancy Tests
How to Confirm Pregnancy Without Taking a Test?
