How was pregnancy detected earlier in the 80s?

In the 18th and the 19th century the scientists started trying to discover the chemicals that regulate various functions in the human body. The term hormone was coined in 1905,and in 1920 they found that human chorionic gonadotropin hCG was found in increased quantity in the pregnant women. The first actual precursor to today’s pregnancy was Selmar Aschheim and Bernhard Zondek.

At this time pregnancy was confirmed at the death of an animal used in the test, like rat or a rabbit or a frog. Then it was in 1960 that the scientists turned their focus to tests that were a combination of hCG, hCG antibodies and urine. The women now needed a doctor to conduct this test for them. In the 1971 Crane designed the Predictor which took about six or seven years to reach the market. This had the nature of a chemistry set and took a while to give the results.

Pregnancy test kits were only invented in 1970 so women before that year never knew if they were pregnant or not until they have given birth. The first pregnancy tests used urine as indicators if a woman is pregnant. However, those were not widely available compared to today where anyone can buy pregnancy test kits in drugstores or even in convenience stores.

The ones who were only allowed to keep the PTs in the 80s were the doctors. Women who wanted to confirm their pregnancy needed to visit a doctor, have their urine sampled, and wait for a week or so to get their result. It was time-consuming for both parties so once the pregnancy kits were enhanced, they were released to the public to be used at home and get the results in minutes.