On the way to today's super-simple, one-piece pregnancy tests, women needed use these first home pregnancy test kits with test tubes, then wait hours for a result. The Analog Revolution: From Lab to Living Room The 1980s marked the peak of the home pregnancy testing revolution, which began with the introduction of the first over-the-counter test in the late 1970s (e.g., e.p.t.-"early pregnancy test"). Before this, a woman had to wait weeks for a missed period, schedule a doctor's visit, and wait days for lab results, often involving complex tests using.
The home pregnancy test works by identifying the presence of the "pregnancy hormone," human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), in urine. Research that led to a sensitive, accurate test for hCG was done by scientists in the Reproductive Research Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH. Predictor Pregnancy Test: Design Prototype, National Museum of American History: A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain, by Jesse Olszynko-Gryn, The MIT Press, 2023.
Predictor, a play by Jennifer Blackmer, published by the News Play Exchange, 2016. Clear Blue Pregnancy Test, 1988 From the late 1980s, easy to use at home pregnancy tests became an increasingly common way for mums. Before the arrival of home pregnancy tests, women had to seek answers at the doctor's office, which was costly, inconvenient, and potentially embarrassing.
'Prepurex' pregnancy test kit (multiple tests) with immunological reagents, pippettes, sampling tubes, mixing plate and instructions, by Wellcome Reagents, Beckenham, England, c.1980 The Prepurex pregnancy test kit was used for early confirmation of pregnancy. It contains multiple tests and measures human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) levels in the urine. A change in the level of HCG is an.
By the early 1980s, home pregnancy tests were based on an enzyme immunoassay or immunochromatography to detect hCG in urine. 4 By 1988, monoclonal antibodies were introduced into home pregnancy testing. With the arrival of cheaper and more user-friendly home pregnancy tests in the 1980s, women were able to confirm their pregnancies earlier and more easily than ever before.
In this excerpt from The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy, Lara Freidenfelds looks at how these tests evolved into a type of rite of passage with symbolic importance that was distinct from their medical importance. Read at The. Accu Test Pregnancy test stick (1999) Vintage 1980s Clearblue pregnancy test stick kit (1987) YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO STUDY TO TAKE A PREGNANCY TEST.
A pregnancy test is useless if you can't figure out how to use it. But test tubes, eye droppers, and a science book others call "the instructions" make most pregnancy tests hard to take.