1
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:07,840
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha, and welcome to Stephan.

2
00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:19,880
Speaker 1: I never told your production I Hi Radio. So Samantha,

3
00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,560
Speaker 1: this is a bit of a personal question. Um, have

4
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:27,320
Speaker 1: you ever taken a pregnancy test? Yes, yes, I actually

5
00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,840
Speaker 1: I haven't. I think I have had one at a gynecologist, right,

6
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,559
Speaker 1: And I've told that story, and I was told I

7
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,640
Speaker 1: was pregnant, and then later it came out he told

8
00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,640
Speaker 1: me this is a thing that happens with pregnancy tests,

9
00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,760
Speaker 1: where sometimes they come up positive, which is a terrifying

10
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,479
Speaker 1: thought to me. And I've been meaning to research into

11
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,279
Speaker 1: it because I just kind of was so stressed out

12
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,720
Speaker 1: and just trusted him that, Okay, I'm not pregnant, this

13
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,560
Speaker 1: is great news. But I've actually never bought a test

14
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,680
Speaker 1: or had to take one on my own. So I

15
00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,280
Speaker 1: definitely have a couple of times, mainly because I'm just paranoid.

16
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 1: This is before I got on my i U D obviously,

17
00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,000
Speaker 1: and also because I have an io D, because there

18
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,480
Speaker 1: can be privacies that happen with an io D and

19
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,400
Speaker 1: that's really dangerous obviously with the ectopic pregnancies and all that.

20
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,440
Speaker 1: So more of those type of level of concerns, and

21
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,520
Speaker 1: of course you know, things happen, maybe like your birth

22
00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,160
Speaker 1: control not being effective or something's breaking. So I've always

23
00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:33,280
Speaker 1: bought two tests. I think in my entire the entirety

24
00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:38,319
Speaker 1: of my adulthood. M So, yeah, but you know what

25
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,839
Speaker 1: really drives me crazy about that though, Whenever you see

26
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,240
Speaker 1: it on TV, they touch it and handle it and

27
00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,200
Speaker 1: hindered around. And I don't understand that because you pee

28
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,400
Speaker 1: on these sticks. That's disgusting. Why would you do this?

29
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:54,640
Speaker 1: That's not where I thought you were going with that

30
00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,960
Speaker 1: that I have some weird like some of these things

31
00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,760
Speaker 1: that does not make hygienic, like it's not higgiena. So

32
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,560
Speaker 1: I don't understand. I get it, like, I'm sure there's

33
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,000
Speaker 1: other ways, like maybe you clean it off, but still

34
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,760
Speaker 1: I don't feel like there's enough cleaning in the world

35
00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:13,520
Speaker 1: to be handling it like that. Noted, I think we've

36
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,120
Speaker 1: probably if you're in that situation, usually it's a close

37
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,680
Speaker 1: person that's there, not always, I suppose, but I guess

38
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,560
Speaker 1: so in the movies. I mean that's usually what we see.

39
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,520
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Either way, I still want to touch it, Okay,

40
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,640
Speaker 1: got it. There definitely been times where I should have

41
00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,720
Speaker 1: bought a pregnancy test, and I didn't because I was

42
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,200
Speaker 1: too afraid to deal with what I thought would be judgment. Yeah,

43
00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,360
Speaker 1: and but all this has got me really curious about

44
00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,040
Speaker 1: the history of pregnancy test and that is why we

45
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:46,360
Speaker 1: are bringing back this classic. So please enjoy. Welcome to

46
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:54,960
Speaker 1: Stuff Mom Never Told You from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello,

47
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,120
Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I am Caroline and I'm Kristen. So, Kristen,

48
00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,080
Speaker 1: do you like to go garden? I would like to

49
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,280
Speaker 1: be able to gardens. Yeah. I don't have a much

50
00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,160
Speaker 1: of a green thumb, but sometimes ye know, I go

51
00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,320
Speaker 1: to Target or wherever and or the local gardening store

52
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,040
Speaker 1: and pick up some seeds. Um. But the things that

53
00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,480
Speaker 1: I do with the seeds are a little bit different

54
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 1: than what they used to do with the seeds in

55
00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,960
Speaker 1: ancient Egypt. Yes, in terms of you probably water your

56
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,919
Speaker 1: seeds do whereas in ancient Egypt you might have urinated

57
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,120
Speaker 1: on your seeds. Right, And this is not actually about

58
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,960
Speaker 1: gardening today, we're talking about pregnancy tests. Yes, the history

59
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,440
Speaker 1: of pregnancy tests. This is um many times over requested

60
00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,960
Speaker 1: podcast topic, and I'm so glad that people have requested

61
00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,640
Speaker 1: it because, as you can probably imagine, pregnancy tests have

62
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:56,120
Speaker 1: a pretty colorful history, tracing back to thirteen fifty BC

63
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,160
Speaker 1: in ancient Egypt and where prey that seed tests involved

64
00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,040
Speaker 1: urinating on seeds. And this is from a great timeline

65
00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,720
Speaker 1: that we found from the National Institutes. Right, they would

66
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 1: women would urinate on barley seeds and wheat seeds, and

67
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 1: if the barley seeds sprouted, the woman was thought to

68
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,520
Speaker 1: be carrying a boy, whereas if the wheat grew, she

69
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,599
Speaker 1: would be painting her pyramid nursery ping uh. And if

70
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,440
Speaker 1: neither sprouted, she supposedly would not be pregnant. Yeah, and

71
00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,159
Speaker 1: this sounds really ridiculous, like this would definitely not work

72
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,159
Speaker 1: or have any sort of significance at all. But actually,

73
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,800
Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties some scientists tested this and found

74
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:41,080
Speaker 1: that pregnant women's urine actually did promote seed growth, whereas

75
00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:42,880
Speaker 1: like if you were not pregnant or if you were

76
00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,560
Speaker 1: a man, no dice y seventy of the time. So

77
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,799
Speaker 1: maybe we should bring that back, go buy some wheat seeds.

78
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:53,640
Speaker 1: I'm just not going to go with that. That's just

79
00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:59,080
Speaker 1: not enough. But it would be a completely organic pregnancy

80
00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 1: tests true, But what a mess? Well, I mean, where

81
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,000
Speaker 1: did you keep it. I mean, I I don't really

82
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,120
Speaker 1: want to answer that question in detail on this podcast

83
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,559
Speaker 1: right now. You could you could somehow make it happen.

84
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,920
Speaker 1: But moving on, and also speaking and speaking of urine,

85
00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,440
Speaker 1: because urine comes up a lot in pregnancy tests, still

86
00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,279
Speaker 1: have to do it and it's it go. This is

87
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:23,080
Speaker 1: actually one of the earliest examples of primitive year analysis,

88
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,760
Speaker 1: which is what pregnancy tests today are. It's just a

89
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,320
Speaker 1: form of your analysis. But during the Middle Ages, and

90
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,680
Speaker 1: this is up through the seventeenth century, some men who

91
00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,599
Speaker 1: were called and this is this is a little bit crass,

92
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:39,240
Speaker 1: but this is actually what they were called. This is

93
00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,160
Speaker 1: from sided in National Institutes of Health. Google it. It's

94
00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,000
Speaker 1: all over the place. Piss profits, right, These men called

95
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,080
Speaker 1: piss profits would examine the color of someone's urine and

96
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,599
Speaker 1: the description is horrific. Oh yeah, if a woman had

97
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,680
Speaker 1: and this is wow, just so so specific. If a

98
00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,279
Speaker 1: woman had clear pale lemon color leaning toward off white,

99
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:10,240
Speaker 1: having a cloud on its surface, prego. Yeah, congratulations, you're

100
00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:15,280
Speaker 1: pregnant because your urine is cloudy. Yeah. Um. Well. They'd

101
00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,920
Speaker 1: also mix wine with urine to test for any visible

102
00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,880
Speaker 1: reaction that might happen. And alcohol actually does react with

103
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:28,200
Speaker 1: certain proteins in urine, so this might have been successful sometimes. Yeah.

104
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,280
Speaker 1: The thing is these uh, these ancient medics were not

105
00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,320
Speaker 1: all that off base in their obsession with women's urine

106
00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,520
Speaker 1: to test for pregnancy. In the early twentieth century, scientists

107
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,080
Speaker 1: identified two key hormones that have to do with pregnancy.

108
00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,640
Speaker 1: We've got progesterone, which is the hormone that promotes gest station,

109
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,960
Speaker 1: and then they identified the hormone h c G human

110
00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:58,800
Speaker 1: choreonic gonadotropin, which is produced only when or shortly after

111
00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,679
Speaker 1: I should say a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine

112
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 1: lining right. And the same scientists who identified h c

113
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,760
Speaker 1: G UH tested for pregnancy by injecting a woman's urine

114
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 1: into an immature rodent and if there was a reaction.

115
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,679
Speaker 1: This is the so called a Z test because based

116
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:23,120
Speaker 1: on their last names ash I'm and Zondeck, could I

117
00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,640
Speaker 1: be pronouncing those corrects? According to this test, if the

118
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,360
Speaker 1: rodent went into heat despite its immaturity, it would mean

119
00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,000
Speaker 1: that the woman to whom the urine belonged was Bregger's.

120
00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,960
Speaker 1: And this is an example of a bioassay, which means

121
00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:42,080
Speaker 1: that some kind of chemical or hormone in humans could

122
00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,280
Speaker 1: have a reaction in another and animals the other mammal.

123
00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,680
Speaker 1: But you have a bio esay between between two different animals.

124
00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,240
Speaker 1: It doesn't just have to be human too rodent, right,

125
00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:57,040
Speaker 1: And this test was taken a step further by Lancelot Hogben,

126
00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,760
Speaker 1: who is not a fictional Harry Potter character. Salt Dog

127
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,920
Speaker 1: been in South Africa. He adapted the test to be

128
00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,920
Speaker 1: conducted using frogs, but for some reason that one really

129
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,920
Speaker 1: never took off. They probably kept hopping away. Uh. But

130
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 1: then in the nineteen thirties we have Dr Maurice Friedman

131
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,520
Speaker 1: of the University of Pennsylvania discover that injecting YEARN into

132
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 1: a female rabbit could detect pregnancy. Hence we have the

133
00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,640
Speaker 1: rabbit test, which is why. And I don't want to

134
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,080
Speaker 1: I don't want to give away anything for those of

135
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,439
Speaker 1: you who have not caught up with all your mad men,

136
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,800
Speaker 1: I've never seen it. Well, it takes place, as you

137
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,040
Speaker 1: probably know, in in the sixties and there is a

138
00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,400
Speaker 1: character who at some point where has to go get

139
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,840
Speaker 1: a rabbit test man. They were still doing in the sixties. Yeah,

140
00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,440
Speaker 1: and that's what what made me, uh, what made me

141
00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,840
Speaker 1: think about it. And there's also an episode of mash

142
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,200
Speaker 1: Yeah with Hot Lips or Hot Lips has to go

143
00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,880
Speaker 1: and they want to kill radars rabbit. Yeah, um yeah. Well, basically,

144
00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:04,960
Speaker 1: this test works by injecting urine again into a rabbit,

145
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,840
Speaker 1: and if hCG is present, it tricks the rabbit's body

146
00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,280
Speaker 1: into thinking it's pregnant and stimulates the ovaries and um,

147
00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,439
Speaker 1: it kind of spurs the growth of these tissue structures

148
00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:21,120
Speaker 1: called the corpora lutilla and corpora him or agica um.

149
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: But if or fortunately for the rabbit, the only way

150
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,240
Speaker 1: to tell if the things were growing is to euthanize

151
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,280
Speaker 1: and dissect. Yes. Um, so that's why there was a

152
00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,319
Speaker 1: common phrase the rabbit died to say that a woman

153
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,640
Speaker 1: is pregnant. It's sort of a grim way to announce

154
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,679
Speaker 1: your pregnant, right, because it has to do. But the

155
00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,480
Speaker 1: thing is, though this was I think from snopes dot com.

156
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:45,160
Speaker 1: They were clearing up the phrase of the rabbit is

157
00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,440
Speaker 1: dying meaning that a woman is definitely pregnant. Because the

158
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,319
Speaker 1: thing is, if the rabbit died, she could be pregnant

159
00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,200
Speaker 1: or not, because no matter what to test it, the

160
00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:02,319
Speaker 1: rabbit's got the rabbit always does whether you're pregnant or not. UM,

161
00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,640
Speaker 1: we get into more non animal science, non involving rabbits,

162
00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,160
Speaker 1: and right in the seventies UM, when greater strides were

163
00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,719
Speaker 1: made towards the tests were more familiar with Now UM,

164
00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,439
Speaker 1: scientists still weren't exactly sure about the role of hCG

165
00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,240
Speaker 1: and normal pregnancy, or what normal level should be. But

166
00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,200
Speaker 1: six the f d A f d A approval was

167
00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,960
Speaker 1: sought for the early pregnancy tests, which actually became known

168
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,480
Speaker 1: as the Error Proof Test or EPT, and UH in

169
00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,760
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, EPT was ready for the US market. Yeah,

170
00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,280
Speaker 1: and we can we have actually cancer research to thank

171
00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:45,079
Speaker 1: for the home pregnancy tests because h c G shows

172
00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,480
Speaker 1: up when a woman or when a Ferlie's egg attaches

173
00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,800
Speaker 1: to the uterine lining, like I said earlier, but it

174
00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,360
Speaker 1: also shows up in the development of certain cancers. So

175
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,680
Speaker 1: some scientists were looking into whether or not they could

176
00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,120
Speaker 1: develop some sort of early answer detection tests, and along

177
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,439
Speaker 1: the way we're able at the same time to develop

178
00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,600
Speaker 1: these home pregnancy tests UM, which, as you can imagine,

179
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,640
Speaker 1: this isn't too too long after birth control arrives on

180
00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,800
Speaker 1: the market. What was it nineteen seventy two is the

181
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,440
Speaker 1: year I want to say, when it became available to

182
00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,200
Speaker 1: married and unmarried women alike. Uh So, then you have

183
00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,600
Speaker 1: a few years later following on that the at home

184
00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:32,359
Speaker 1: pregnancy test, and like you said, in ninety becomes advertised

185
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:37,199
Speaker 1: in major women's magazines, including Mademoiselle, McCall's read Book, etcetera. Right,

186
00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,640
Speaker 1: so it was pretty much widespread and accepted by then.

187
00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,720
Speaker 1: And actually one article in nineteen seventy nine and one

188
00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,480
Speaker 1: of these women's magazines said it was you know, it

189
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,120
Speaker 1: was giving props to the home pregnancy test because it

190
00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,679
Speaker 1: said that it protected women's privacy who didn't want their

191
00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,120
Speaker 1: doctors to know they were sexually active. Right, because they

192
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,520
Speaker 1: could still be taboo to go if you're a single woman,

193
00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:58,760
Speaker 1: to go into your doctor's office and have to get

194
00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:02,960
Speaker 1: a pregnancy test and then be slight shamed by your gynecologists.

195
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,760
Speaker 1: That's not that's not fun. And one of the one

196
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,640
Speaker 1: of the advertisements from this is coming from nine in

197
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,280
Speaker 1: Mademoiselle says, for your ten dollars, you get a pre

198
00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,120
Speaker 1: measured You get pre measured ingredients consisting of a vial

199
00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,800
Speaker 1: of purified water, a test tube containing, among other things,

200
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,280
Speaker 1: sheep red blood cells, as well as a medical dropper

201
00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,160
Speaker 1: and a clear plastic support for the test tube with

202
00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,520
Speaker 1: an angled mirror at the bottom, so you can pretend

203
00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:30,040
Speaker 1: to be a scientist. Yes, you have to be a

204
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,600
Speaker 1: little bit of a scientist. And there is a description

205
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,760
Speaker 1: of a woman who had, uh, you know, she was

206
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,320
Speaker 1: recalling taking one of these very early at home pregnancy tests,

207
00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,959
Speaker 1: and she said that it really wasn't that easy to use,

208
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,160
Speaker 1: as you can imagine from all of the things that

209
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,920
Speaker 1: come in this box for your ten dollars. She said,

210
00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,800
Speaker 1: you pretty much felt like a chemist, and you had

211
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,760
Speaker 1: to put the drops of urine into a tube and

212
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,000
Speaker 1: shake it up, and put a stick with white beads

213
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,160
Speaker 1: in it and hold the tube and turned upside down.

214
00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,720
Speaker 1: There's no way, I was. Yeah. So, uh. It has

215
00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,240
Speaker 1: since come a long way, and in two thousand three,

216
00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,960
Speaker 1: the FDA approved clear Blue Easies digital pregnancy tests that

217
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,160
Speaker 1: got rid of the line that you had to detect

218
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,880
Speaker 1: and just says pregnant not pregnant, right, easy enough? Yeah,

219
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,400
Speaker 1: I mean I would still take fifty. I would make

220
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,120
Speaker 1: sure to get fifty. I pull a Murphy Brown. Well

221
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:26,000
Speaker 1: that's a good yes, I did just reference TV show

222
00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,800
Speaker 1: elaborate on your Murphy Brown reference. Please no Murphy Brown

223
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,559
Speaker 1: in a in an episode of My own took what

224
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,960
Speaker 1: was it, twenty or twenty one pregnancy tests and then

225
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,640
Speaker 1: they were all positive. So I would absolutely Murphy out.

226
00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:40,880
Speaker 1: We'll see. That was the question that I had as

227
00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:45,800
Speaker 1: I was researching home pregnancy tests. Accuracy. Can we trust

228
00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:52,200
Speaker 1: these tests? And they're they're pretty reliable, according to web md.

229
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,880
Speaker 1: Web and B suggests you take a pregnancy test when

230
00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,920
Speaker 1: you experience in this period nausea, breast tenderness, fatigue, right,

231
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,280
Speaker 1: and but most sources also suggest you wait until after

232
00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,959
Speaker 1: you've missed a period, because if you take it any earlier,

233
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,240
Speaker 1: the level of hCG you could be too low, or

234
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,040
Speaker 1: the embryo might not have been implanted yet. So all

235
00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,960
Speaker 1: these tests that say, oh, yeah, accuracy, like the day

236
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,559
Speaker 1: after you have sex, I'd wait a little bit. Yeah,

237
00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:18,200
Speaker 1: you might want to Sure, you might want to wait.

238
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,440
Speaker 1: And also you have to take into account if you've

239
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,040
Speaker 1: had a lot of liquids right before you take your tests,

240
00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:28,920
Speaker 1: it could dilute the results. Um. And here's here's the

241
00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,680
Speaker 1: one thing about home pregnancy tests that is a little,

242
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,000
Speaker 1: a little troubling. A false negative saying that you are

243
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,960
Speaker 1: not pregnant when in fact you are, is more common. Terrified,

244
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,760
Speaker 1: it's more common than a false positive, especially if, like

245
00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,360
Speaker 1: you said, Caroline, if you take the test a little

246
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,640
Speaker 1: too soon, um, before you've missed that that first period, right.

247
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,760
Speaker 1: And actually there are several things that can affect whether

248
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,600
Speaker 1: you get the correct answer. UM, if you're taking fertility

249
00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,080
Speaker 1: drugs that contain hCG, you risk getting a false positive. UM.

250
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,960
Speaker 1: Also if you've recently been pregnant, if you have ovarian cysts,

251
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,000
Speaker 1: have experienced an ect topic pregnancy, or if your menopausal,

252
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,880
Speaker 1: you risk getting a false positive. So those are just

253
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,440
Speaker 1: some some things to keep in mind. It's not saying

254
00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,880
Speaker 1: that home pregnancy tests aren't very reliable. You just have to,

255
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:24,800
Speaker 1: you know, keep in mind that there are a lot

256
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,120
Speaker 1: of different things going on to detect that actually detect

257
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,680
Speaker 1: that hc G. And I just want to assure people that, um,

258
00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,400
Speaker 1: most medicines do not affect pregnancy tests. And see if

259
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,040
Speaker 1: you're on birth control or antibiotics, don't worry. And even

260
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,760
Speaker 1: though we have just outlined a number of caveats about

261
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,440
Speaker 1: home pregnancy tests, statistically they are nine accurate if you

262
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,800
Speaker 1: follow the directions carefully and of course, as we always

263
00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,240
Speaker 1: say in the podcast, with anything related to the female body,

264
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,040
Speaker 1: if you're concerned, go see your doctor, Go see your

265
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,600
Speaker 1: nurse practitioner, get a year in test there. Or you

266
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,440
Speaker 1: can go take a blood test which is performed at

267
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,200
Speaker 1: a doctor's office, which is used less often, but it

268
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,880
Speaker 1: can detect pregnancy earlier, although it takes longer to get

269
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:12,520
Speaker 1: the results. Right, So if you want to be really

270
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,000
Speaker 1: sure and you're okay with waiting, yeah, definitely go to

271
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,840
Speaker 1: your doctor. Yeah, absolutely, Um. And of course if your

272
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,960
Speaker 1: pregnancy tests says that you're pregnant, then you should go

273
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 1: to a doctor. Should really go to the doctor. That's

274
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 1: a that's a good time. But here's here's the thing. Um,

275
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:31,600
Speaker 1: we found this article on feminism and home pregnancy tests

276
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,600
Speaker 1: asking the question of whether or not home pregnant home

277
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,040
Speaker 1: pregnancy tests are a feminist technology, and I fully expected

278
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,360
Speaker 1: the answer to be a resounding yes. Yeah. And Lynda Lane, Uh,

279
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,120
Speaker 1: the article is called the home pregnancy test a feminist technology?

280
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 1: Question mark, Um, she says no, but they're not because

281
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,560
Speaker 1: it takes away women's autonomy and self knowledge. Right, Because

282
00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,400
Speaker 1: going into this research, I expected it to assume that

283
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,680
Speaker 1: the answer would be yes, because I think you mentioned

284
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,600
Speaker 1: earlier that one of the articles from nine says, finally, women,

285
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:06,960
Speaker 1: we don't have to you know, you don't have to

286
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,240
Speaker 1: get risk going to the doctor and being shamed if

287
00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,560
Speaker 1: you need to take a pregnancy test. But she says

288
00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:19,359
Speaker 1: that home pregnancy tests have actually kind of undercut the

289
00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,879
Speaker 1: need for better women's healthcare and prenatal care because we

290
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,560
Speaker 1: can now just go to the drug store and for

291
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,600
Speaker 1: ten bucks fifteen bucks go buy a home pregnancy tests,

292
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:32,240
Speaker 1: or you can even get like a value pack a

293
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,119
Speaker 1: pregnancy test and and take care of it like that.

294
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,639
Speaker 1: And she says that fifteen confirmed pregnancies and end in

295
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,520
Speaker 1: early spontaneous abortion a k A. Miscarriage, and since most

296
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,199
Speaker 1: occur within the first weeks of pregnancy, she argues that

297
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,200
Speaker 1: there are advantages to take performing the test later, which

298
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,479
Speaker 1: there are. I mean, that's like we said, you need

299
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,199
Speaker 1: to wait until you miss that first period, probably to

300
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:59,119
Speaker 1: get better. She says that that, uh, giving yourself a

301
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,719
Speaker 1: test to really could lead to undo stress whether you

302
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,560
Speaker 1: whether the pregnancy is wanted or whether it's not, because

303
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:08,919
Speaker 1: you know, let's say you do want to be pregnant.

304
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,240
Speaker 1: You're very excited, you've been trying. You take that test

305
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,479
Speaker 1: really early and it says positive, and then you're one

306
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,800
Speaker 1: of those people who have an early miscarriage. That could,

307
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,080
Speaker 1: you know, be heartbreaking. But then you know, there's also

308
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,520
Speaker 1: the other side where let's say somebody doesn't want this pregnancy,

309
00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,720
Speaker 1: it was not expected. Then they've got to start thinking about,

310
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,399
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, well, what am I gonna do? You know,

311
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:30,760
Speaker 1: am I going to have this baby? Am I not?

312
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,439
Speaker 1: You know, a lot to think about when you know,

313
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,920
Speaker 1: if you would just wait a while, you know well

314
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:40,120
Speaker 1: and Lane also argues that the availability of home pregnancy tests,

315
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,040
Speaker 1: kind of having that fail safe there at the drug

316
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:47,840
Speaker 1: store that anyone can go out and purchase, has distracted

317
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,000
Speaker 1: us from paying closer attention to our bodies, to our

318
00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,120
Speaker 1: menstrual cycles, to our reproductive systems, and not paying attention

319
00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:01,520
Speaker 1: to the physical signs that might indicate pregnancy, instead relying

320
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:07,320
Speaker 1: on massive drug companies to sell us these these urine sticks. Yeah,

321
00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,960
Speaker 1: she says, the only feminist pregnancy test is to listen

322
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,760
Speaker 1: to your body, to all those things that web Indy

323
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,160
Speaker 1: talked about, the mis period, nausea, breadth, tenderness, and fatigue,

324
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,680
Speaker 1: although I think it's a compelling point, though, She says that, uh,

325
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,239
Speaker 1: one feminist method to determine if you're pregnant is by

326
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,119
Speaker 1: doing a pelvic self exam or having I don't know.

327
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,800
Speaker 1: I don't know about that exactly. I don't know how

328
00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: to do a pelvic self exam. Maybe that you know

329
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 1: this is a I don't. I don't have a speculum

330
00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,919
Speaker 1: lying around, yes, she says. Um, a contributor to the

331
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,160
Speaker 1: National Institutes of Health website, recalls having had a classic

332
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,680
Speaker 1: speculum around from the do it yourself pelvic Exam days

333
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,680
Speaker 1: where they're doing yourself pelvic exam days. I missed them, apparently,

334
00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 1: and she says she used to diagnose her first pregnancy

335
00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,960
Speaker 1: by observing changes in her cervix. I think that would

336
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 1: be but but okay, okay, that don't terrify it, So

337
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,120
Speaker 1: calm me down. You do look kind of terrified. But

338
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,560
Speaker 1: that would be pretty incredible to be then in tune

339
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,600
Speaker 1: with your body that you can observe the own changes

340
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,280
Speaker 1: in your service. I get where Lane's coming from. Me.

341
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,160
Speaker 1: I think that I'm not I'm not completely on board

342
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,680
Speaker 1: with this notion that home pregnancy tests are anti feminists.

343
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,359
Speaker 1: But I get what she's saying. I think that perhaps

344
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:25,480
Speaker 1: we should, um expand the I don't want to say

345
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:31,080
Speaker 1: arsenal because that sounds so militant. Perhaps expand the resources

346
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:36,960
Speaker 1: available to us, including perhaps do it yourself pelvic self examples.

347
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,200
Speaker 1: I'm not doing it, and I mean but Caroline Lane also,

348
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: she also says that a friend could help you do it,

349
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:47,640
Speaker 1: so you know what, Kristen, what are you doing later? What?

350
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,679
Speaker 1: I really I like my kind ofcologist. I've gone to

351
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 1: her from ten years. I will stick with her and

352
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,200
Speaker 1: listeners out there if you have, if you have any

353
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,879
Speaker 1: recollection of the do it yourself pelvic Exam days, or

354
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 1: if you're familiar with this in doing pelvic pelvic self exams,

355
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:08,840
Speaker 1: please write us in and let us know. I'm I'm

356
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 1: genuinely curious to know more. I've never heard about it. Yeah, um,

357
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,240
Speaker 1: and I think with that, I think that's our history

358
00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 1: of home pregnancy, just a brief history of being on

359
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,240
Speaker 1: seeds and killing rabbits. But how fascinating though. We got

360
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,159
Speaker 1: to learn about piss profit I know, and about what

361
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,160
Speaker 1: they looked for in urine, which grosses me out. That's

362
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,920
Speaker 1: gonna be my new It's my my favorite factor the week, Caroline.

363
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,760
Speaker 1: You know that's my new band name. Also, yes, we

364
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,160
Speaker 1: should start the pist profits band name and it's so yeah.

365
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:37,560
Speaker 1: If you'd like to join our bands, send us an

366
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,280
Speaker 1: email Mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com. And

367
00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 1: I have an email here from Daniel. I just have

368
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,159
Speaker 1: one to to read today because it's just so great.

369
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,800
Speaker 1: This is my it's actually my favorite, one of my

370
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,360
Speaker 1: favorite emails we've ever gotten. Um. This is in response

371
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,199
Speaker 1: to our episode on Douching entitled Baga Douche and it

372
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: goes like this You're do podcast reminded me of a

373
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,360
Speaker 1: traumatic episode of my childhood during the time period when

374
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 1: Mass and Gil was airing your favorite commercial so eloquently

375
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,359
Speaker 1: acted out during the podcast, I thank you. My older

376
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,239
Speaker 1: brother and cousin put me up to something dastardly. I

377
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 1: was perhaps seven or eight, and the older children convinced

378
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:19,600
Speaker 1: me that I should go up to my grandmother and

379
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,360
Speaker 1: re enact said commercial while they hid outside her bedroom door.

380
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:29,000
Speaker 1: I slowly stepped into the room and asked, Oh, no, Grandma,

381
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 1: can I ask you a personal question? Yes, Daniel, Grandma,

382
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: do you douche? No? But I used to we don't

383
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,200
Speaker 1: have sex anymore. Oh No, I ran from the room

384
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,360
Speaker 1: screaming while my brother and cousin died laughing in the hallway.

385
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,639
Speaker 1: Your podcast, while also informative, brought me back to this

386
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: humorous memory of my childhood. I now need to devise

387
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 1: an appropriate revenge for my brother's grandma. Do you do

388
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,520
Speaker 1: you got a little more information than he requested, So

389
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 1: thank you to everyone who has written in mom stuff.

390
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,360
Speaker 1: At how stuff works dot com is the email address,

391
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,320
Speaker 1: and if there's anything about the history of home pregnancy

392
00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:11,879
Speaker 1: tests we fail to leave out, send it our way please,

393
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: or you can post it over on our Facebook page,

394
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,159
Speaker 1: or you can alert us on Twitter. Our tag is

395
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,439
Speaker 1: at mom Stuff podcast, or you can find us on

396
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 1: our blog It's stuff Mom Never told You from how

397
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Be sure to check out our

398
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 1: new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff

399
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,199
Speaker 1: Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing

400
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: possibilities of tomorrow. The How Stuff Works I Fine app

401
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:47,720
Speaker 1: has arrived. Download it today on iTunes, brought to you

402
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,120
Speaker 1: by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are

403
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:51,360
Speaker 1: you