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Post by Ryker on Sept 19, 2007 12:39:25 GMT -5
Hey guys, I'm working on a fic that centres around Angela thinking she's pregnant. Were pregnancy tests around back then? Or the only way to know for certian was going to the doctor's?
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Post by Nittanylizard on Sept 19, 2007 14:08:21 GMT -5
I'll double check with my mom (pregnant in 1967/68 and 1969), but I'm fairly certain it was a while before home pregnancy tests were introduced. You had to go to the doctor.
Liz
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Post by Ryker on Sept 19, 2007 14:20:07 GMT -5
Thanks Liz!
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Post by queenjaneapprxmtly on Sept 19, 2007 14:39:46 GMT -5
I thought they did have them then, only really simplified versions. But I'm probably wrong.
I'd like to know for sure, too. That would be great for my novel.
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Post by Nittanylizard on Sept 19, 2007 15:30:22 GMT -5
Confirmed: There was no such thing as a home pregnancy test back then.
As it was, my mom told me that she had no test of any sort done. She went off the pill, and when her period didn't show up for a couple of months, she made an appointment with her general practitioner. He confirmed the pregnancy with a quick internal exam, and she then set up an appointment with an OB/GYN.
What I'm not sure about is at what point during the pregnancy they could confirm it using an internal exam (she could have been anywhere from a couple of weeks pregnant, to almost two months). Back in the 1940's and 50's there was a rather involved test in which a rabbit died if you were pregnant, but like I said, they didn't do anything but an internal if you were at a certain point.
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Post by queenjaneapprxmtly on Sept 19, 2007 15:49:33 GMT -5
My guess is that they'd probably confirm it based on how many periods you'd missed, or something like that, or on what symptoms you might be experiencing and for how long. And then they would probably conduct the internal exam from there.
But then again, I'm probably wrong. That just seems logical to me, lol. :p
Thanks for the info. :)
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Post by Keira on Sept 19, 2007 18:51:08 GMT -5
A rabbit would die? That's intense... *Commericial undertones come to mind: No animals were harmed in the making of this commericial.* And really sad.
That's good to know though - I once wrote a fic (never put up, and never will be, lol) that involved a pregnancy test... but I guess that's completely pointless now. That's okay, it wasn't anything special, lol. I'm glad to know for sure though -- I just figured back then that they might have some sort of an early version, but that it wasn't something you could really count on.
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Post by anotherillusion on Sept 23, 2007 6:46:21 GMT -5
I think the first home pregnancy test was developed in the seventies, I swear I read that in a paper somewhere a while ago.
Another Illusion
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