Home Remedies for Pregnancy Test: Are They Accurate?

16 home made pregnancy tests

Many women choose to take a pregnancy test for various reasons. Whether you’re trying to conceive or simply checking if you missed your period, pregnancy tests can give you the answers you’re looking for. However, not everyone has access to a commercial pregnancy test or wants to buy one for privacy reasons. Fortunately, there are plenty of home remedies for pregnancy tests that you can try using common household items. But the question is: are they accurate? In this article, we will discuss some of the most popular ones and determine if they’re reliable or not.

Toothpaste Pregnancy Test

One of the most popular home remedies for pregnancy tests is toothpaste. The process is simple: combine toothpaste and urine in a cup or container and wait for a reaction. If the mixture turns frothy or blue, it’s supposedly a positive result. While this method may seem convincing, no scientific evidence supports it. Toothpaste is not designed to detect hormones in urine during pregnancy, so the changes in colour or consistency are likely due to chemical reactions between the toothpaste’s ingredients and the urine. Therefore, it’s best to use other methods to confirm your pregnancy status.

Sugar Pregnancy Test

Another home remedy for pregnancy tests involves using sugar. Mix urine with sugar and wait for a few minutes. If the sugar clumps together, it means you’re pregnant. However, this method isn’t accurate either. The clumping reaction may occur regardless of pregnancy, and the results can differ depending on the amount of sugar you use. Furthermore, there’s no scientific basis for why sugar would react to the hormones present in pregnancy, making this method unreliable.

Salt Pregnancy Test

Using salt in pregnancy tests is another popular method. Mix salt and urine and wait for the reaction. If the mixture forms a curd or clumps, it means you’re pregnant. However, the same issue arises: there’s no scientific basis for the reaction. Salt may simply attract moisture, making it clump together regardless of whether you’re pregnant. Therefore, it’s best to use other methods to ensure that you get accurate results.

The Pine-Sol Pregnancy Test

Some people claim that Pine-Sol, a cleaning solution, can determine if you’re pregnant or not. To do the test, mix Pine-Sol with urine and observe the reaction. Supposedly, if the mixture changes colour, you’re pregnant. However, like the other home remedies, there’s no scientific basis for this and no way to confirm any results. It’s best to stick to proven methods for pregnancy testing.

The First Signs of Pregnancy

Before we share the other homemade pregnancy testers, let’s look at the first signs of pregnancy. The most common symptoms are missing periods, fatigue, vomiting, swollen feet, tender breasts, and food cravings.

Another early sign of pregnancy is experiencing stomach cramps. Some women describe this as intense menstrual cramps and can even find a slight red stain in their underwear as the fertilized egg settles into their womb. Your period won’t come, though. Despite a baby being the size of an apple pip in the early stages, pregnancy can take a significant toll on your physical and emotional well-being. As such, you’ll experience severe exhaustion, even during normal daily activities.

Another common early sign of pregnancy is a strange mental taste in your mouth and even the sensation of having too much saliva. This unusual taste can make you feel less hungry and even make it difficult to stomach certain foods. On the other hand, some women report unexpected food cravings for dishes they wouldn’t ordinarily choose to eat.

During the initial stages of pregnancy, your hormones are all over the place, which can trigger unpleasant mood swings. Although these hormones are essential for preparing your body to produce milk for your body, they can make you significantly more emotional than you’d usually be.

You might feel more upset or angry at things that wouldn’t typically bother you, but you can also feel intense bursts of anxiety and unhappiness. This unbalance of hormones can also make you feel nauseous – especially in the mornings.

If you experience any common symptoms, we recommend making one of these 16 homemade pregnancy testers before splashing out on a pregnancy kit from a store.

13 Extra Homemade Pregnancy Tests

1. Dandelion Leaves

Dandelion leaves are useful in finding out if you are pregnant or not. Remember to drink plenty of water before the test, so that your bladder is full.

What to do:

  • Cut a few dandelion leaves and put them in a container.
  • Ensure that after you put the leaves in the plastic container, they do not come in contact with the sunlight.
  • Now urinate on the leaves; they should get completely submerged.
  • After 10 minutes, check for any red bumps on the leaves. If yes, then the result is positive.

2. Bleach

Although it may sound weird, bleach can be used as a pregnancy test as well.

What to do:

  • Mix bleach and urine in a cup. If the mixture begins to foam you have some good news to share.

Note – If you choose to use this method, remember to do it outdoors as opposed to your bathroom, because the fumes emitted out of bleach can cause a problem in breathing.

3. Vinegar

Vinegar is also helpful for this purpose. Alike toothpaste, there are no specifications about how much urine and how much vinegar is required.

What to do:

  • Mix a sample of your urine with vinegar in a plastic cup and mix it.
  • While mixing, you may see some bubbles. Do not worry about them; they are not harmful to you.
  • If the color of the mixture changes, it means you are expecting.

4. Wheat and Barley (Egyptian Test)

If you want to follow the ancient wisdom, it’s a good idea to try out the wheat and barley test.

What to do:

  • Pour some urine on the wheat and barley seeds, and see if they germinate.
  • As per the Egyptians, if the wheat grows, you are going to have a baby girl. And if the barley seeds grow, it’s a boy.

5. Mustard Powder

Do this if you have missed your periods.

What to do:

  • Fill a bathtub with hot water and add some fresh mustard powder.
  • Now soak your body in the water for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Take a shower with plain water and wait till the next day to see if your period starts the following day.
  • If it does, it could be that your period is late due to other reasons.
  • However, if there is no sign of a bloody discharge, chances are that you are expecting a child.
6. Soap

You can use any soap for this test.

What to do:

  • Add urine to a small piece of soap, if froth forms or if the soap bubbles up, the test is positive.
7. Tuna Juice and Vinegar

Tuna isn’t just a tasty dish, but it’s also helpful to find out if you will have a child.

What to do:

  • Mix ¼ cup of tuna juice and ¼ cup of vinegar in a plastic cup.
  • Now pee in a separate cup and then add your urine to this mixture.
  • After a few minutes, if the color changes to green, then you are pregnant.
  • If the color changes to yellowish-orange, it indicates a negative result.

8. Urine Collection

This is perhaps the easiest home solution for a pregnancy test.

What to do:

  • Collect your urine in a bottle or jar.
  • Ensure you rest the bottle on a flat surface and do not touch it.
  • After 24 hours, if you see a thin white layer on the top of the urine, it is a sign of a positive result, which means you are pregnant. If there are no changes, the result is negative.

9. Peroxide and Tylenol Mix

If you have peroxide and Tylenol lying around the house, you can combine them.

What to do:

  • Collect your morning urine in a cup and add peroxide and Tylenol in equal portions. If the liquid in the glass turns blue, you are pregnant.

10. Wine Test (Medieval Test)

Wine isn’t just good for consumption; it’s also helpful in finding out if you’re pregnant.

What to do:

  • During medieval times, the woman would mix their urine with wine to confirm if they were pregnant. If the urine remained clear, the result was negative.

11. Onion Insertion (Greek Test)

This may sound crazy to a modern woman of the 21st century, but this method was used by the ancient Greeks. In those days, the doctor would insert an onion in the woman’s vagina and let it stay there for a night. The next day, if the woman’s breath smelt of onion, she was pregnant. The Greeks believed that during pregnancy, a woman’s vagina is more absorbent, and would suck all the juices of the onion into the bloodstream, and that is why the woman had a foul smell coming from her mouth the following morning.

What to do:

  • Insert an onion in your vagina and check your breath the next day.

12. Latch Test

This test goes back to the 1400s. In those days, a woman would place a latch in a bowl and pee on it until it was completely soaked in urine. She would then have the difficult task of waiting 3 hours to confirm whether she was pregnant. After three hours of removing the latch from the container, if a print appeared at the bottom of the container, the result was positive.

What to do:

  • Place a latch in a bowl, then pee on it.

13. Red Cabbage Test

This is more of a gender determination test rather than a pregnancy test, but you can use it like that as well.

What to do:

  • Chop half a red cabbage and put it in a pan of hot water.
  • Please put it on the stove, let it boil for 10 minutes, and then let it cool down.
  • Strain the water in a jar or cup. In another jar or cup, collect a urine sample.
  • Make sure you have equal portions of both.
  • Pour the cabbage water into the jar with the urine sample.
  • If the colour remains the same, i.e. purple, chances of having a girl are higher, and if it changes to a pink-red colour, you will have a boy.
Conclusion

While performing a home remedy pregnancy test may be tempting, it’s essential to remember that there’s no scientific basis or evidence to support their accuracy. Commercial pregnancy tests are designed to detect pregnancy hormones and are your best bet for reliable results. If you’re unable to access or afford a pregnancy test, visit your local women’s health clinic or consult with a healthcare professional for more options. Remember, your health and peace of mind are worth the investment.