I might have sent a very long email!
Hi Clearblue,
I purchased this pregnancy test as I trust your products. I really do. I had a Clearblue monitor for a year or two while TTC and even upgraded to an advanced monitor. I had my first pregnancy using your monitor and conceived this one using the advanced one. I really, really like them. Yes they are expensive. But you have put some thought into them and they took all of the guesswork out of it. And I really appreciate that. You even, when I had some sticks which didn’t work replaced them without question and tested the faulty stick and sent me a report. It was amazing. I was seriously, seriously impressed.
Until I found this test. My god. This test.
It’s sensitive. That is the one thing I liked about them. I actually was very impressed by how quickly it picked it up my pregnancy. And when you see the ‘Pregnant 1-2’ that is SO exciting. So you keep the second and you maybe, ‘just for fun’ try another one in a week’s time to see the progression. And it still says ‘Pregnant 1-2’.
And the warning bells start. Because you should be 2-3, shouldn’t you? And as you’ve had two miscarriages, you start to panic as your HCG levels MUST be low or dropping as this very reassuring test has said you’re under the amount of weeks pregnant that you should be. And then the panic starts. And I mean, the panic starts. Because it took 17 months and two losses to get here and honestly, you’re not sure if this isn’t predicting a third time now.....
I can’t be the only woman who has emailed you about this. These tests seem to be causing anxiety and heart ache for quite a large amount of women all over the world if you check the various public forums. And honestly….I think you need to start looking at what you’re doing and whether you’re selling this product ethically to your target audience.
You state that:
"It's like 2 tests in 1 - it first detects if the pregnancy hormone is present with over 99% accuracy from the day of your expected period, and if you are pregnant, it ALSO indicates how many weeks since conception occurred 1-2, 2-3 or more than 3 weeks (3+). The Weeks Indicator is 93% accurate in detecting when you conceived."
But it’s only when you read the small print that what it means is:
** 'Weeks' result 97% in agreement with later ultrasound dating scan. Based on studies of 187 women comparing results (1-2, 2-3, 3+ weeks since conception) to ultrasound dating +/- 5 days.
So actually what you’re admitting is that the results could be 5 days out which makes them pretty inaccurate in fact. You cover yourself as you put it in the small print but I’ll be honest with you Clearblue… who the hell reads the small print on a freaking pregnancy test?
Yes, it’s stupid not to I know. You should ALWAYS read the small print. But honestly, if you’ve ever been pregnant I’m sure you’ll understand that it’s one of the most exciting and desperately stressful times in your life. For those of us who have had losses, we’re relying on something that has been sold to us as supposedly ‘scientific’ to help us (you even have a random actress in a white coat in your ads as, hey, she’s obviously a doctor and I can trust her!) and reading the freaking small print and trying to work it out in our heads…..yeah. We’re not all going to do that. Some people honestly CAN’T work it out. And they shouldn’t have to. Not at the amount that you charge for these tests.
If your science can’t pinpoint the pregnancy accurately as you state without you having to fudge the statistics (also how is 187 a decent control group to make these kind of statements accurately?) then please, you need to rethink your advertising of these products. You cannot, i repeat cannot state that women using this test 'Can know how far along you are' as you cannot give them the correct information reliably. At early pregnancy even a week out is just not accurate!
All I can say is that worrying day and night about it for about a week, constantly checking that I’m not bleeding when I go to the loo, googling, calling my clinic and GP several times, scheduling an early scan, enquiring about paying to get Betas done (which we don’t do here) as well as asking about other people’s experiences on numerous forums….was not what I needed this week. Until I read the small print of course. And now I am a little (although never 100%) more relaxed. I’m still a huge stress ball. And I can’t be excited about this pregnancy yet.
If this pregnancy continues and I am lucky enough to have a second child I will never, ever use this test again. And I urge you that while we understand you need to make money and that you don’t sell these tests with altruistic motives, that you at least consider changing your selling and marketing information to take into account women who are at their most vulnerable. Because this makes me not want to keep buying Clearblue products again.
And that would be a real shame.
Best wishes,
Claire