During pregnancy, a woman gives many tests, and the most frequent of them is urinalysis. This is due to the fact that during the carrying of the baby, the load on the kidneys and heart increases. Therefore, in order to monitor the condition of these two systems, before every visit to the doctor, a woman must take urine for analysis.
The main urine test performed during pregnancy is a general urine test. Only the urine of pregnant women should be properly collected, and the analysis is correctly deciphered.
Indicators of urinalysis during pregnancy
The main indicators of urinalysis during pregnancy are:
- Color . Normally, the color of urine is straw-yellow. A more intense color indicates fluid loss by the body.
- Transparency . Urine may become turbid due to the presence of red blood cells, leukocytes, bacteria, and epithelium.
- рН of urine . The value is considered to be 5.0. An increase of more than 7 may indicate hyperkalemia, chronic renal failure, urinary tract infections and other diseases. A decrease in pH to 4 may be a sign of dehydration, diabetes, tuberculosis, hypokalemia.
- Leukocytes . The norm of leukocytes in the analysis of urine during pregnancy is no more than 6. Exceeding this value indicates inflammation in the bladder, kidneys or urethra.
- Protein . Normal analysis of urine during pregnancy does not assume the presence of protein in it. Its content is up to 0,033 g / l (0,14 g / l - in modern laboratories). Increase in protein content can talk about stress, high physical exertion, pyelonephritis, gestosis, proteinuria of pregnant women.
- Ketone bodies . These toxic substances are found in the general analysis of urine in pregnant women with severe toxemia in the first half of pregnancy or with exacerbation of diabetes in a future mother.
- Relative density . This rate increases with the presence of protein and glucose in the urine, with toxicosis and high fluid loss. Decrease in the index occurs with abundant drinking, acute damage to renal tubules, renal failure.
- Glucose . The appearance of sugar in the urine in small amounts in the second half of pregnancy is not significant. After all during this period the maternal organism specially increases the level of sugar, so that the child receives more. A high level of glucose is a sign of diabetes.
- Bacteria . The presence of bacteria in the urine with a normal number of leukocytes is a sign of kidney disease,
or cystitis. Detection of bacteria in the urine together with an elevated level of white blood cells indicates the occurrence of renal infection. In addition to bacteria, yeast-like fungi can be detected in urine.
Sometimes to assess the function of the kidney during pregnancy, a daily urine sample is given. With its help, the amount of urine released within 24 hours is determined. The results of a 24-hour urine test during pregnancy make it possible to determine the amount of creatinine filtered by the kidneys, the daily losses of minerals and protein.