Categories: Pregnant

Being pregnant and knowing you will have a child can be one of the most exciting and heartwarming feelings. The one downside? The process.

With everything from morning sickness to bacne, pregnancy can bring out some unruly symptoms and make your body more susceptible to other issues. Getting a urinary tract infection (UTI) when you’re pregnant is one of those problems you should definitely not ignore.

A UTI is the most common bacterial infection women get during pregnancy and can occur in different parts of the urinary tract, such as the bladder, urethra, and kidneys. While it’s easy to get a UTI, you may not develop any symptoms of infection, which is also serious.

At Pro-Health Urgent Care at Midland, we can treat your UTI with care during your pregnancy.

Symptoms of a UTI

If you develop a UTI while pregnant, the symptoms are similar to what you’d expect if you weren’t pregnant. Common symptoms include:

  • Burning sensation when you pass urine
  • Needing to urinate more often than usual
  • Leaking urine before you get to the restroom
  • Feeling of a full bladder, even if you just urinated
  • Cloudy, bloody, smelly urine
  • Painful pubic bone
  • Developing a fever

At times, the first sign of an infection is a faint prickly sensation when you’re urinating. But if the infection is severe, it can move up to the kidneys. If this is the case, you could develop a high fever with back pain and vomiting, and if you do, seek medical care as soon as possible.

UTIs present risks to the baby

Your body can easily develop a UTI during pregnancy and affect your urine and immune system. While it may not seem bad at first, as your baby grows, so will the pressure on your bladder. This pressure can reduce your urine flow, leading to an infection.

And pregnant women are more likely to get repeated infections or more severe infections than women who aren’t pregnant.

If you’re pregnant and have a UTI, that may also mean a risk to your unborn baby. UTIs can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, so your baby might be born earlier and smaller.

How to treat a UTI when pregnant

Even if you don’t notice the symptoms, treating a potential UTI as quickly as possible is crucial to prevent any problems for your unborn child.

Drink plenty of water to help flush out your urinary tract. Your doctor will choose an antibiotic you can take that’s safe for your pregnancy and can determine that by the type of bacteria in your urine sample.

If you’re pregnant and have signs of a UTI, we can help. Call our Midland, Michigan, facility today, schedule an appointment online, or stop by.