pregnancy tests over the counter became available in 1977.
pregnancy tests over the counter became available in 1977.
when did pregnancy tests over the counter became available?
1977
she took matters into her own hands and went to her home in new york to begin working on her prototype. she combined a paper clip holder, a test tube, a mirror, and a dropper. she put her invention together and presented it to organon but the idea was at first rejected, but they applied for patents in her name in 1969. when crane presented her idea, it was met with major pushback. crane's proposition made the lab hesitant due to worries that the lab would lose business to doctors if women started performing these tests at home. organon eventually decided to do a test market of the product and margaret crane's design was chosen. organon hired a new york ad agency to do the marketing, and ira sturtevant was to head the account. he took a particular interest in margret crane's prototype. he was intrigued by how elegantly the home pregnancy kit was put together. organon chose canada for the test market and ms. crane and mr. sturtevant were chosen to head the project. they went on to become partners for more than 40 years until his passing in 2008. with success the pair went on to building their own marketing company named ponzi and weill. this advertising business partnership became an important role in the promotion of the pregnancy test. “every woman has the right to know whether or not she is pregnant,” said an early ad for the test that women “can do by yourself, at home, in private, in minutes.” this was margaret crane's biggest motivator to invent the at home pregnancy kit. before crane’s proposed invention, women would have to go to a doctor and have their urine tested in a lab to determine if they were pregnant. as a result, women would have to wait weeks for results. in the 1960’s, when crane’s idea first came to be, a pregnancy test was processed in a lab by monitoring levels of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hcg) in urine. it was discovered that women secrete high levels of hcg when pregnant. therefore, if hcg was detected it indicated pregnancy. due to the food and drug administration rules for medical devices it took a while to receive approval for her prototype in the unites states. the pregnancy test developed by crane did not receive fda approval until 1976. soon after, crane’s pregnancy test hit the market in 1977, ten year since she had first proposed her idea. it was marketed as “the predictor”. although her name was on the patents for the device, organon licensed the product to three over-the-counter pharmaceutical companies and crane never received a penny for her design. she had to sign off her rights for a dollar and never saw that dollar. but she was grateful to have met her partner in the process. it was not until 2012 when the new york times ran a short "who made it" feature and crane received proper recognition for her prototype that simplified the pregnancy of many women. crane was reading the paper one morning and noticed that the column was about the history of pregnancy test. her name was not included in the article, and she knew she had to speak up about her contribution in order to receive recognition. crane was hesitant to come forward because the article was discussing the modern version of the pregnancy test, which crane did not create. however, since crane’s ideas sparked the change in pregnancy tests with her prototype evolving into what is on shelves today, she stepped forward and emailed the author of the article. since 2012, crane has received recognition for her invention.
margaret crane
pregnancy detection can be accomplished using one or more various pregnancy tests, which detect hormones generated by the newly formed placenta, serving as biomarkers of pregnancy. blood and urine tests can detect pregnancy 12 days after implantation. blood pregnancy tests are more sensitive than urine tests (giving fewer false negatives). home pregnancy tests are urine tests, and normally detect a pregnancy 12 to 15 days after fertilization. a quantitative blood test can determine approximately the date the embryo was conceived because hcg doubles every 36 to 48 hours. a single test of progesterone levels can also help determine how likely a fetus will survive in those with a threatened miscarriage (bleeding in early pregnancy).
pregnancy