People Are Trying a DIY Pregnancy Test That Involves Toothpaste

Wondering if you’re pregnant can lead you to do some strange things. From the moment you suspect pregnancy, you want to find a way to confirm it. But sometimes, it’s just too early to tell. Or maybe you finally feel the need to find out but it’s 3 a.m. and all the shops are closed. So what do you do? You take your questions to the all-knowing internet. And that’s just where you might find this next bizarre trend that’s buzzing all over some parenting sites. But honestly, all I can say is: don’t try this DIY pregnancy test at home.

Hey, if you stopped thinking it was a good idea at the word letters DIY thrown in there, you’re not alone. As someone who has peed on many a stick to find out my hCG levels, I know better than to leave things like this to chance. After all, some store-bought pregnancy tests can give you a false negative if taken too early. Why on earth would I want to rely on something I made at home myself to give me potentially life-altering news?

The Test

OK, but you’re probably still curious as to what this particular DIY pregnancy test is, right? I won’t leave you in suspense any further. First, you collect your urine (assuming in a clean and disposable receptacle). Next, you add a small amount of toothpaste onto a plate, along with a few drops of your urine. Yeah, toothpaste. The brand or kind apparently doesn’t matter. Then, you wait for the toothpaste to turn frothy and bluish and if it does, boom! Pregnant! But if there’s no change to the paste, then you’re not.

But uhm…just how did this method even become a thing? According to BabyPrepping.com, the toothpaste test was, “often used decades ago when pregnancy tests weren’t easily found in stores, especially for women living in rural settings.”

OB/GYNs hearing about this are asking folks to just wait and take an actual test, though.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7QOerku5c]

“Waiting to know if you are pregnant or not can be like watching paint dry,” Dr. Sheeva Talebian (an OB/GYN) and Dr. Jaime Knopman (a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist) told FitPregnancy.com.

“Some techniques are way more accurate than others, and therefore, despite their accessibility are not going to give you the correct answer.”

So there you have it. If you’ve got a pressing need to find out about your pregnancy status, hit the dollar store and stock up on some legit tests.

(Image: iStock / velvelvel)

Similar Posts