Why are Urine Tests Important During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy tests can either be urine or blood tests, but the most commonly used are urine tests. Urine tests are accurate and nearly identical to blood tests, but they are considerably more economical. Urine tests can be taken in a doctor’s office or in the convenience of your own home.

A urine test, or urinalysis, is one of the routine tests performed at every prenatal visit, which looks for sugar, protein, blood, ketones and leukocytes. As soon as you hear a "urine test" in pregnancy, your first thought is a pregnancy test to determine whether HCG, the pregnancy hormone, is present. If you have been diagnosed with pregnancy, the words "urine test" take on a whole new meaning.

During a urine test, known as a Urinalysis, a pregnant woman can find out if she has any diseases or conditions that could affect her or her baby. If these conditions are detected early and treated, healthy pregnancy and delivery can be ensured. 

These are some of the things health providers look out for in a pregnant woman’s urine:  

• The presence of sugar (glucose) in the urine of a pregnant woman may indicate gestational diabetes
  It is a condition in which women who did not have diabetes before pregnancy develop high levels of blood sugar during pregnancy. High sugar levels in urine could also be an incidental finding. If high levels of sugar are detected in a pregnant woman's urine during routine prenatal visits, a blood sugar test is done.  Untreated or uncontrolled gestational diabetes can result in premature or stillbirth of babies.

• Furthermore, such babies are usually larger than average, making delivery more challenging. Usually, gestational diabetes resolves once the baby is born, but women who have experienced gestational diabetes are more likely to have diabetes later in life.
   
• Women often test positive for glucose during pregnancy. Try not to stress
  As your bloodstream circulates more sugar to support your baby, it's a normal and expected phenomenon during pregnancy - especially in the second trimester. In most cases, your body will adjust your insulin levels over time so that you will not develop gestational diabetes.

In pregnancy, high levels of protein in the urine (proteinuria) indicate Pre-eclampsia. 

• Protein in the urine is not always suggestive of a problem, but past a certain level, it indicates pre-eclampsia or some kidney problems.
• Preeclampsia is a potentially fatal pregnancy complication in which there is high blood pressure and damage to some organs including the kidneys and liver.
• It is usually treated with emergency delivery of the baby by 34-36 weeks of pregnancy.

• Before then, it is treated by administering blood pressure medications and strictly monitoring the blood pressure until the baby can be safely delivered.
• If left untreated, it can lead to eclampsia, a form of convulsions, which poses serious health hazards to both mother and baby and in a worst-case scenario, can cause death.

• A urinary tract infection (UTI)
  The presence of red or white blood cells in the urine of a pregnant woman is suggestive of a UTI.  Untreated UTI can lead to kidney infection in the mother, premature birth, and low-birth-weight among other things.

• Dehydration: The color of one’s urine can tell if one has had enough water to drink. Dark amber-colored urine means the woman has to drink more water. If dehydration goes unnoticed and untreated, it can lead to lower levels of the fluid surrounding the baby in the womb (amniotic fluid). The low level of fluid results in birth defects and premature labor. Apart from also affecting the production of breast milk, dehydration puts the pregnant woman at risk of a UTI and recurrent headaches. 
  
   
• Urine Ketone levels: Elevated pregnant woman ketone levels have been associated with adverse fetal outcomes, including low childhood intelligence quota (IQ) or fetal heart defects.

In conclusion, urine tests during pregnancy are routine but strictly necessary. Pregnant women should undergo any tests their doctor orders and follow their doctor’s recommendations in order to keep any problems under control. So, all to-be moms keep your wellness monitored through your journey of 9 months from the comfort of your home using the urine dipstick test in Neodocs Maternity Wellness Kit using Neodocs’ smart strips. Simply take the test and scan the test card using the Neodocs app on your phone to get accurate results in 1 minute to know exactly which parameter affects your health.

For further guidance and recommendations concerning health issues and health reports, it’s time to upgrade to Neodocs Smart Reports. Get a better understanding of any blood reports along with dietary and other lifestyle recommendations to aid you in monitoring health from just a Whatsapp number on your smartphone. Simply Whatsapp any blood report to +917400281971 and do away with googling your health concerns!