Video: How Do Pregnancy Tests Actually Work?

Viewing time: 4m 33s

What you’ll learn: 

• Pregnancy tests date as far back as 1350BC in ancient Egypt and they apparently had a 70% accuracy 😃
• Each modern test performs a scientifically rigorous, multi-stage experiment within a few minutes
• Pregnancy tests detect a specific hormone called HCG, which is produced in the early stages of pregnancy
• HCG is responsible for ‘informing’ the body not to shed the inner lining of the uterus
• The pregnancy test strip contains three zones and urine is absorbed into the strip passing each zone
• The reaction, test and control zone perform a specific task and dye-activating enzymes either react or stay dormant
• Pregnancy tests are fairly reliable but not full proof so they’re meant to be used as an indicator to see a doctor