UTI in pregnancy

[NoMoreWasabi]

When seeing a midwife today they told me there was a little blood in my urine sample and that they would send it to the labs to look for a UTI. They said they would write to me in about a week if I needed antibiotics.

Having come home and googled it I suspect I do have a UTI but had been putting some of the symptoms down to pregnancy. I've also been scaring myself reading that if it converts to a kidney infection this can lead to premature labour. I'm 23 weeks and have previously suffered a late pregnancy loss so you'll understand I don't want to take any risks.

So the question is - does it sound normal to wait for a week for these results and is there any risk to the baby in waiting this period if I do have a UTI?

Anyone?

Hi
I don't have any helpful advice for you but didn't want to read and run. I'd ring your doctors before the end of the week as they told me it would take 7-10 days for my GTT results to come back and they were back within 6 days so worth ringing every day to see if they're back early. I would also ring your midwife back, explain your anxiety and ask about the risks to the pregnancy.
Good luck and hope all works out okay x

Thanks pruney. I'd tried ringing the midwife who was dealing with it but apparently she out until further notice. Not really very keen to have to explain my circumstances to someone else really.

I don't know about the risks during pregnancy, but you would probably get feverish before the infection is spread to the kidney. If you have no fever, you can just wait for the results. If you develop fever, go to your GP immediately.

Also, cranberries are believed to help to clear infections. You could probably get some cranberry juice or at least plenty of fluids.

Disclaimer: I have certainly no medical qualifications. I did once suspect my daughter had a UTI and the doctor's advice was to observe if fever develops. She didn't have any UTI.

Hello,
A week is about normal for the full lab results, I'm afraid. A kidney infection would only develop in rare circumstances if the UTI hadn't been treated for a far more prolonged time & managed to spread. I've suffered from both in the past & it sounds like if it's a UTI, then it's a fairly mild one. If it was a bad one, you'd be bedridden and feeling awful & unable to be up and about. So I wouldn't worry too much unless you start feeling a lot worse. Also- a UTI won't hurt your baby. They're very common in pregnancy & usually just a nuisance rather than anything serious. Hope that reassures you a bit. There's a thread from a week or two ago with advice on how to avoid them in future. X

I ended up in hospital with a UTI which had spread to my kidney at 22 weeks. I was quite poorly and under critical care team. However DD was born at 37 weeks and is perfectly fine.

I had UTI's throughout my pregnancy with DS but with DD I just managed to get a severe one. Had afew more after being discharged but had regular tests and they were all picked up early on thank fully.

I was told not to drink cranberry juice once infection present, no idea why just was told it is a good preventative but should be not advised to drink in treatment.

My symptoms were normal UTI symptoms which I ignored thinking it was normal pregnancy symptoms. Then one morning I got a really bad headache, and shivvers and sweats and just felt really off so went to GP temp of 99.9 when I was seen, sent to hospital for treatment with IV antibiotics and paracetamol, and within two hoursn of arriving I had sever vomitting and was losing conciousness and hallucinating.

My advice is you know your body if you start to think something isn't right, get to see a GP ASAP, it really is simple to treat but it really isn't nice at all.

Sorry why say in one post what you can say in three

I was told to ring 3-4 days after sample taken for results, my results were all sent to GP so I had to ring there but on a couple of accasions they rang me so results can come in quicker, but if waiting for letter it will add to the time obviously.

Thanks all. Good to know I?d be feeling a lot worse if it were serious ? many of the UTI symptoms seem to be par for the course in pregnancy anyway so its hard to distinguish them. I?m just reluctant to take any risks given my prior experience. I?m going to chase the hospital at the end of the week to see if the results are back. The whole thing of ?oh we?ll send you a letter if you need anything, we won?t if you don?t? didn?t really inspire confidence given they use second class mail and in my experience are a bit variable about actually sending things.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time of it, Nunnie. Just to say- cranberry juice has something in it which helps line & calm the bladder/ tubes etc to help prevent flare ups, but it's also quite acidic, so can cause further irritation if you already have an infection. That's why they advise you cut out all fruit juices & caffeine if you have a UTI. X