With a variety of reasons for not too frequent to the bathroom, many pregnant women who choose to hold urine or urinate. Sometimes, some pregnant women urinate when sleeping at night or on the way. In fact holding urine during pregnancy can cause health problems.
In general, pregnant women have a higher risk for urinary tract infection (UTI). Having the habit of holding urine will increase the risk of UTI in pregnant women.
What Causes Urinary Tract Infections?
Pregnant women do experience increased frequency of urination due to hormonal changes that make blood flow to the kidney faster and blood volume also increased about 50 percent compared to before pregnancy, thereby increasing bladder filling, urinary frequency, and urine volume. In addition, the growing size of the uterus will give emphasis to the bladder.
UTI in pregnant women is generally caused by an enlarging uterus and suppress the bladder. So when pregnant women urinate, often some urine is still left in the bladder. Urine remaining in the bladder is a bacterial development site. When pregnant women hold urine and not emptying the bladder perfectly, it will make the bacteria stay there longer, and increasing the risk of UTI.
Known Symptoms
The usual ISK symptoms seen include:
- Pain or pain during urination.
- Urine is issued cloudy, bloody, or smelly sting.
- The more often you feel the urge to urinate.
- Fever.
- Pain and discomfort in the pelvis, lower abdomen, and lower back.
- Pain during intercourse.
Other signs indicating that the infection is in more severe conditions and may have spread to the kidneys are body temperature that rises to 38 degrees Celsius or more, pain in the lower back and pelvis, trembling and chills, nausea and vomiting, as well as cold heat .
Tips to Avoid Urinary UTI and Urinary When Pregnant
To prevent UTI during pregnancy, some things you can do include reproduce drinking water and clean the intimate organs with the direction of basuhan from front to back after urination. This is to avoid the spread of germs from the anus to the urethra.
Then choose underwear from cotton and not too tight. Then change underwear every day. No less important is not to hold urine for a long time.
Although frequent urination is inevitable for most pregnant women, the following tips can be applied to avoid increasing frequency and volume of urine:
- Avoid drinking coffee, tea or carbonated drinks such as soda because this type of drink is diuretic that can increase the production of urine and make pregnant women often urinate.
- When urinating, empty the bladder completely. You can lean forward while urinating to help empty the bladder. Do this carefully, yes!
- Immediately urinate and do not delay when you feel like urinating. Too often resist urination, gradually weaken pelvic floor muscles in the long run.
- How to avoid waking up at night to urinate is to drink plenty of water during the day, and avoid drinking much before bed. But, make sure the body remains well hydrated. The sign you have enough to drink is a light yellow or clear urine color.
If pregnant women have done the above tips but still feel the symptoms of UTI, immediately consult a doctor. It is important to get proper ISK care and treatment to prevent maternal and infant health problems, such as kidney infection, premature birth, and low birth weight babies.
