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You’re more prone to urinary tract infections (UTI’s ) during pregnancy due to the changes
happening to your body. The hormone progesterone relaxes the muscles of the tubes
(ureters) that connect your kidneys to your bladder. This slows down the flow of urine from
your kidneys to your bladder. As your womb (uterus) gets bigger, it has the same effect. As
a result, bacteria have more time to grow before they’re flushed out.
UTi’s are common in pregnancy

What are the symptoms of a UTI?

It’s possible to have a UTI without any symptoms, particularly in pregnancy. This is the
case for around one in 10 pregnant women.

That’s why you should be offered a urine test as an early part of your antenatal care. If
bacteria are discovered in your urine during pregnancy, and confirmed in a second
sample, your GP should offer you antibiotics to clear the infection, even if you don’t have
symptoms.

If you see your urine test results, you may see terms such as leucocytes (white blood
cells) and nitrites (evidence of bacteria), followed by plus signs (+++) to indicate their
presence and quantity. Lots of leucocytes means that your body is fighting an infection and
lots of nitrites indicates that there are bacteria in your urine, usually Escherichia coli (E
coli) from your gut.

Symptoms of a UTI in your bladder (cystitis) may include:

• pain or burning when you wee
• needing to wee urgently, or more often than usual
• pain in the lower part of your tummy or your back
• a bit of blood in your urine
• feeling generally unwell

For pregnant women, the usual treatment once a UTI is diagnosed is to take antibiotics for
seven days., and maybe painkillers such as paracetamol too.

Your urine is checked regularly in pregnancy however please report any symptoms of UTI
as soon as possible as some UTI’s can trigger contractions or early labour

Vaginal Thrush

Vaginal infections like thrush are very common in pregnancy. If you have thrush, you’ll
most likely notice vaginal discomfort and also changes to your vaginal discharge.
It’s normal to have more vaginal discharge than usual while you’re pregnant, but healthy
discharge should look clear or milky in colour and shouldn’t be unusually smelly or itchy or
curd like in its appearance.

You may have thrush if:

• You have itching in or around your vagina.