Find out more about how fertility sticks are working. ]]> http://www.clearblueadvice.com/how-to-use-and-read-fertility-sticks/feed/ 0 http://www.clearblueadvice.com/tips-and-how-to-plan-for-a-healthy-pregnancy/ http://www.clearblueadvice.com/tips-and-how-to-plan-for-a-healthy-pregnancy/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:34:07 +0000 sideshowadmin http://clearblueadvice.com/?p=1070 There are many things you can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy, so here are three top tips:

Tip 1: Watch what you eat and drink: In your pregnancy, your baby relies on what you eat and drink so it’s important to have a really healthy diet.

And even with a good diet, you should have a folic acid supplement- that’s one a day of 400 micrograms.

It’s important to limit or even avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks such as tea or coffee. Also it’s important to avoid unpasteurised dairy products, as these can contain the bacteria Listeria that can cause miscarriage or even stillbirth.

Tip 2: Keep active:  Keeping active during pregnancy and being fit will make for an easier pregnancy and also help you deal with any stress or anxiety. Yoga or swimming is often recommended for pregnant women but whatever exercise you do always speak to the instructor first.

Tip 3: Don’t smoke: If you do smoke, now is the time to stop. Cigarettes are known to be harmful to your baby and increase the chances of your baby having a low birth weight or being born too early.

If you do have any questions about how to ensure a healthy pregnancy, why not submit a question through the ‘Ask the Doctors’ section of this website or join us for our next live chat.

When you become pregnant your body starts to produce a pregnancy hormone called HCG. This doubles every 2 to 3 days, reaching a maximum at around 7 to 12 weeks. Clearblue pregnancy test kits work by detecting the pregnancy hormone in your urine.

Clearblue offers two pregnancy test kits: the Clearblue Plus Pregnancy test and the Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Conception Indicator.

Both are over 99% accurate when used from the day your period is due.

With the Clearblue Plus Pregnancy test, the tip changes from white to pink and a blue line appears in the control window to show the test has worked.  Your result is displayed as a blue positive or negative symbol in the results window within 3 minutes.

The Clearblue Digital Pregnancy test with Conception Indicator is even simpler to use. It interprets the result for you, with the words ‘Pregnant’ or ‘Not Pregnant’ in the results window.

If you are pregnant, the sensor then goes on to measure the levels of pregnancy hormone in your urine, to give you an estimate of how many weeks ago you conceived.

Both Clearblue pregnancy tests are as accurate as a Doctor’s urine test and are over 99% accurate when used from the day the period is due.

You can also use the Clearblue pregnancy tests, up to 4 days before your period is due, but if you get a ‘Not Pregnant’ result, you should repeat a test on the day your period is due. The pregnancy hormones may simply not be high enough to detect.

It works by detecting the surge of Luteinising Hormone or LH in your body that triggers ovulation 24 to 36 hours later.

It’s simple to use, simply place the test stick into the test holder, and then place the absorbent sampler in your urine stream for 5-7 seconds.  The result will be ready in the test window within 3 minutes.

The Clearblue Digital Ovulation test indicates your 2 most fertile days with a smiley face inside the test window, so it’s extremely easy to interpret.

As you are most fertile on the day of your LH surge and the day after, you are most likely to get pregnant if you make love on those days.

In summary the Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test is over 99% accurate, is very easy to use and it gives you your result within 3 minutes.

You can predict ovulation through recording your menstrual cycle, noticing changes in your body or by using a Clearblue ovulation test or Clearblue fertility monitor.

If you have a very regular menstrual cycle you can assume that you will ovulate between 12 and 16 days before your next period.

For bodily changes you might chart your temperature throughout your cycle or notice changes in your cervical mucus throughout your cycle.

One of the most simple and accurate ways to predict ovulation is to use a Clearblue Digital Ovulation test. The test will tell you the best 2 days to conceive – the day of ovulation and the day before.

A Clearblue Fertility Monitor is also a great way to predict ovulation and is proven to increase the chances of conception by 89% in the first 2 cycles of use. A Clearblue Fertility Monitor not only shows 2 peak fertile days, but also identifies an additional 1-5 days of High Fertility before ovulation.  As your partner’s sperm can survive in your body for several days, making love on these days can also result in conception.

Pregnancy symptoms vary from woman to woman, and from pregnancy to pregnancy. But you shouldn’t worry if you don’t get any pregnancy symptoms; it’s quite possible to be pregnant without any.

So how soon after conception do pregnancy symptoms start and what are the common symptoms?

A common first symptom is feeling or being sick, often called ‘morning

sickness’ although you can get this symptom at any time of day or night. Most women experience this before the 9th week of pregnancy.

Breast tenderness or breast getting larger or tingling is also common and that happens also in the early weeks of pregnancy.

Some women find at about the 6-8 weeks mark that they have to get up in the night to go to the loo or even ‘leak’ a bit when they cough or sneeze.

Mood changes are also common in the first few weeks of pregnancy. You may find yourself crying, without knowing why. This is probably because of the changes in hormone levels taking place in your body.

Additionally some women find that they go off certain foods and start to have cravings for others that they don’t normally like.

If you’re more than 5 days late for your period and you think you are pregnant, you can take a Clearblue Pregnancy Test with Conception Indicator to see if you’re pregnant and how far along you are.

For more advice about the early symptoms of pregnancy or for a list of early symptoms, you can visit the Clearblue site or indeed submit a question to the Clearblue Advice centre.

How to read pregnancy test result?

The Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Conception Indicator tells you how many weeks ago you conceived. Conception occurs approximately 2 weeks before your period is due.

On the Clearblue Pregnancy Test With Colour Change Tip and New Clearblue Plus Pregnancy Test a blue line will appear in the Control Window within 2 minutes to show that the test has worked. Read your result after 2 minutes.

• If there is a ‘–‘ in the Result Window when the line in the Control Window appears, your result is ‘Not Pregnant’.

• If there is a ‘+’ in the Result Window when the line in the Control Window appears, your result is ‘Pregnant’.

It does not matter if one of the lines that make up the ‘+’ symbol is lighter or darker than the other; the result is ‘Pregnant’:

The appearance of the ‘+’ symbol in the Result Window may vary, however, the lines that make up the ‘+’ symbol and the line in the Control Window should be of a similar width.

Clearblue offers a range of pregnancy tests that can tell you clearly whether or not you’re pregnant. Find out more about all Clearblue pregnancy tests by following the links below:

Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Conception Indicator 

Clearblue Pregnancy Test with Colour Change Tip 

Clearblue Plus Pregnancy Test

No tests are more accurate than Clearblue – All Clearblue pregnancy tests are over 99% accurate when used from the day your period is due.

With the Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test there’s no need to interpret the lines. Its advanced digital display tells you in words, whether you’re pregnant or not, giving you the most trustworthy reading in early pregnancy.