white blood cells in urine and feeling rough - cause for worry?

[foraffriend]

Asking on behalf of a friend...

She is approx 30 weeks pg and the last few days has been feeling pretty rough on top of 'normal' pregnancy symptoms - including getting dizzy spells and just feeling very poorly.

She went to the doctor at the end of last week, who did blood and urine test, when she rang up to get the results the nurse was very vague and said that she had some white blood cells in her urine but that she 'should be ok' and that she could see the doctor if she needed anything else (assuming she could get an appointment in the next few days!)

I thought I would help out by looking online to find out what white blood cells in the urine mean during pregnancy but haven't been able to find very much info - all seems to be about protein or glucose problems.

So thought I would turn to mumsnet to see if anyone could let me know why white blood cells end up in urine, and if they are anything to worry about - is it worth chasing her gp up about them? Especially when in conjunction with the other symptoms she is having (dizzy, pains etc).

Many thanks!

Leukocytes (white blood cells) could possibly indicate an infection I would think. But I'm not sure wether they have to be +++ to treat, did they send off a urine culture?

Also would have thought a repeat visit to gp would be a good idea, or at least a phonecall to clarify.

any white blood cells in the urine during pregnancy should be treated as a urinary tract infection. these can be quite serious in pregnancy and i would suggest your friend calls the nurse back or asks to see the doctor as UTIs can cause preterm labour. she should be put on antibiotics to treat the immediate infection whilst the culture results are being sent back (she should make sure this has happened) and then her urine should be tested again a week after finishing the course of antibiotics. i had recurrent UTIs throughout my pregnancy with DD and i was told it can be quite serious if not sorted out at the earliest opportunity. i hope your friend gets the right treatment soon
xx ei xx