Trying for a baby is not cheap. Even before you are pregnant, the costs can start to add up. One of the first times you notice this is when you come to buy a pregnancy test. Why are they so expensive, you may ask yourself? You’ve seen pregnancy tests for under a fiver, but are they any good?
Certainly pregnancy tests can be expensive. But there are also budget options. Which should you choose? Are cheap pregnancy tests as reliable as the posh, branded ones?
Cheaper pregnancy tests have less features than some of the big name ones, but are still as accurate (normally around 99%) and usually give clear results within three to five minutes.
The Best Pregnancy Tests For Under A Fiver
Think you are pregnant? Before going to the doctor (which you should do), it’s worth doing a quick test at home first to confirm. So here’s our pick of the budget tests that you can buy. for less than a fiver…
Zoom Baby Midstream Pregnancy Tests – Extra Sensitive
At just £1.29 per test, the Zoom Baby Midstream Pregnancy Test is our choice for the best pregnancy test for under a fiver. This midstream tests is designed to be sensitive to the female pregnancy hormone, HcG. It will detect HcG with a cut-off of just 10 mIU/ml. This means that it can be used to detect pregnancy up to 4 days before your expected period.
Most pregnancy tests for under a fiver will not detect pregnancy as earlier as this test can. Early detection is normally a feature of branded tests from First Response or Clearblue.
Zoom Baby Ultra Early Pregnancy Test Strips
Pregnancy test strips are a real budget option. Rather than peeing on to a stick, these tests need you to pee into a cup and then dip a test strip into them. If you are only testing at home this can be a very cheap option. Reliability is no less than for midstream tests, you just have the slight inconvenience of having to regularly fill and wash the container.
Zoom Baby Ultra Early Pregnancy Test Strips start at just £2.49 for a pack of 5 tests. That’s roughly 50p per test! If you buy the strips in a bigger 10 pack or 20 pack, they work out even cheaper.
These strips are very sensitive and can also be used up to 4 days before your expected period.
NHS Pregnancy Test Cassettes – Ultra Sensitive
Looking for a test that you know a doctor would use? How about these? Yet another format of test, these cassette type pregnancy tests also need you to pee into a cup. You then remove a sample of urine with a proved pipette and drop it into a collection hole on the pregnancy test. This may sound a bit of a faf but it’s not really, once you know what you are doing.
At just 99p per test, these NHS Pregnancy Cassette Tests are the exact same ones used by the health service in the UK. They are also used by many GP’s and doctors surgeries.
Zoom Baby Pregnancy Test Value Pack – LARGE
If you are testing frequently you may want to stock up on pregnancy tests. If that is the case, we recommend that you invest in the Zoom Baby Pregnancy Test Value Pack. This pack contains 10 pregnancy tests, including more expensive ones such as the Clearblue Rapid Detection Pregnancy Test and the First Response Early Results Pregnancy Test, All tests come with instructions and the set is supplied in a handy, travel bag that can be reused.
At less than £15 for the set, this pack is tremendous value. The large number of tests in the pack means that you can test regularly, This will help provide you with complete peace of mind when testing for pregnancy at home.
This post first appeared in February 2020
Photo by John Looy on Unsplash
Zoom Baby is a leading supplier of Pregnancy Tests and Ovulation Test Kits
