The Bluetooth app-connected pregnancy test that was announced at CES, Pregnancy Pro from First Response, has now launched, and can be purchased online from Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Amazon, Rite Aid, and Kroger.
"First Response has been a trusted brand for women for nearly 30 years and we understand the many emotions and questions that arise during the pregnancy journey. When seeking answers to her questions, millennial mothers turn to their smartphones," Stacey Feldman, Vice President of Marketing, at First Response parent company Church & Dwight, said in a statement. "This is why First Response pioneered the first and only Bluetooth-enabled pregnancy test and app access, which instantly gives her the information she needs during her pregnancy journey on the device she's using most, her smartphone."
The test will have a suggested retail price between $14.99 and $21.99, which gives the user one pregnancy test and access to certain features in First Response's free app (other features, like ovulation and pregnancy trackers, are free).
The device works like a regular pregnancy test, except that it can send the results to an app, so the user can view them on either the device or the app. The exclusive features in the app include three options to pass the time for the three minutes the test takes to complete: "Calm Me", which offers relaxing visuals; "Educate Me", which offers quizzes and informational content about conception and fertility; and "Entertain Me", which offers -- per the company's press release -- "videos to help distract and entertain her, such as cooking tricks and playful animals".
Since the device was first announced in January, there's been some pushback from the tech press about whether it really makes sense to pay a significant markup for slightly easier access to cat videos. Time will tell how widespread that sentiment turns out to be among consumers.
After the test, the app will provide paying customers with tailored content from partners including Meredith Corporation, Buzzfeed, Resolve and First Response reproductive specialists.
Dr. Lauren Streicher, associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine endorsed the app's educational content in a statement.
"My patients come to me with a multitude of fertility and contraception questions," Streicher said. "But I can't be in their home with them when they take that all important pregnancy test. The Pregnancy PRO app experience offers women a wealth of trusted resources and accurate information for their reproductive, pregnancy and fertility-related questions right at their fingertips."
