Can Birth Control Affect A Pregnancy Test?

Precap
Can birth control affect a pregnancy test? No, birth control does NOT affect pregnancy test taken after a missed period. A pill can prevent getting pregnant before conception. Once placenta starts secreting hCG, it comes in urine even if you take the pill.

It’s not a secret that many women take birth control pills or use birth control devices. But have you ever wondered, ‘Can birth control affect a pregnancy test?’

Trying to conceive and pregnancy are anyway physically and psychologically exhausting. To add to the mess is the tsunami of questions that flood a woman’s mind.

We all know birth control can affect a pregnancy but can it have a bearing on a pregnancy test also?

Let’s find that out but before diving in we will also explain a bit about birth control methods and pregnancy tests.

What is birth control?

  • Birth control is a pill or medication that prevents conception.
  • There are many kinds of contraceptives like barriers such as condoms, and caps. Others include Intra Uterine Device like loops and copper T, pills and jellies and creams.
  • There are sterilization options too like tubectomy and vasectomy for permanent contraception.

A birth control pill is either taken on a monthly prescription or an emergency contraceptive pill.

Emergency contraceptive pills are taken within a specific time after having unprotected sex. They are hormone shots and hence are less recommended.

What does a birth control pill have?

  • Pills are combinations of female reproductive hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle. They alter the hormonal conditions and hence prevent conception.
  • You have to consume the pills the entire month except for the days when you’ve your periods.
  • Contraceptive pills alter your hormone cycles. If you have regular menstrual cycles, then this is a less recommended thing.
  • Use a condom. It is the best contraceptive possible. It has the highest accuracy. It is the only one that gives you protection from sexually transmitted diseases. And it doesn’t have any side effects.

How does birth control affect pregnancy?

  • A birth control pill alters the balance between the various reproductive hormones in a woman’s body.
  • Birth control has many side effects. Side effects like a headache, nausea, excessive hair growth and weight gain are widespread. Pimples and acne outbreak are other complications of birth control. Menstrual issues like spotting and painful menses result from birth control pills.
  • It is undeniable that if you play with your natural cycles, you are bound to face the consequences.
  • But before throwing out your birth control pills, listen to the other side of the story. Birth control prevents you from conceiving an unwanted pregnancy with an accuracy of 97-98%.
  • Not as a cause but just by statistics if you get an abortion for first pregnancy it gets challenging to bear a baby. So it is better to prevent pregnancy than to terminate an unwanted one later.

How does a pregnancy test work?

  • A pregnancy test detects merely a hormone (hCG) produced by your baby placenta the ‘hCG hormone.’
  • This hormone starts coming in sufficient quantities after implantation of your baby.
  • It comes in your urine too, and the pregnancy test detects it using an hCG strip within it.

Can birth control affect a pregnancy test?

So now if you understood the entire text that you’ve read up till now, you have the answer to can birth control affect my pregnancy test?

No, it cannot. Birth control will affect pregnancy, but it won’t affect a pregnancy test.

Why?

  • Hormones in birth control pills are present in you in the early pregnancy. Only after some time does the hCG level shoot up and hence eventually the other hormones take a back seat.
  • So in the early stage, the hCG hormone is detectable even if the birth control pill hormones exist in you.
  • The pregnancy test will only react with the hormone hCG that is present in urine.
  • The pregnancy test only has antibodies against hCG and not other hormones.
  • The other hormones might not even come in your urine in sufficient quantity.
Can birth control affect a pregnancy test?
Can birth control affect a pregnancy test?

Can you take a pregnancy test on birth control?

Yes, you can take a pregnancy test on birth control. Sometimes you might not be expecting a pregnancy, but if you see pregnancy symptoms, you need a pregnancy test.

As birth control pills don’t interfere with a pregnancy test, you can take a pregnancy test on birth control.

The result of a pregnancy test on birth control remains unaltered. In case you get a negative pregnancy test on birth control before missed period it might be a false negative.

This is because the body needs time to make up hCG. Getting a positive pregnancy test result on birth control could be because you missed a pill.

It is not news that woman gets pregnant even on birth control. No contraceptive device gives a 100% protection from pregnancy other than permanent sterilization.

Taking pregnancy test while on birth control

Taking pregnancy test on birth control doesn’t require any additional precautions. All you need to do is to read the instruction given in the kit box.

Following the pregnancy test instructions is very important for an accurate result. Buy a sensitive pregnancy test if you want to test early.

Otherwise, you might get a false pregnancy test, not because of birth control but because the kit is incompetent.

Shall I take birth control after taking a pregnancy test?

This is another question which only you can answer.

  • There is no rocket science; it is simple. If you don’t want to conceive, then keep taking the pill. However, if you want a baby then stop the pills.
  • In fact, as soon as you decide that you want to get pregnant then you have to stop taking the birth control pills.
  • If you get a positive pregnancy test, stop taking the birth control pills. It is so because taking birth control might lead to miscarriages.
  • If you get a negative pregnancy test and don’t want to be a mom, then continue with your pills.

Giving birth to a baby and being a mother is a choice that you should make after thinking about every possible situation. 

You have to nurture a new life and you should take up the task only after you are mentally prepared for it.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Does emergency pills unwanted 72 cause problem getting pregnant fr more 3-4 months….. Or it is possible that one yr back one can get positive pregnancy test just by one unprotected sex . And after an year there are complication getting pregnant…

    • Oh it’s natural to have different experiences while getting pregnant second time. Everything you had in the first place may not occur at all. Don’t worry. About the birth control, ideally it just throws you off for a month. The after effects must leave within 3 months.

  2. I CANNOT find this anywhere. But you know how your body acts as if you were pregnant, with literally all the symptoms? Could one of the side effects of the pill/depo etc be that you yourself produce that hormone (that the test reacts to) as a result of the birth control?

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