What can a urine test reveal during pregnancy?

Pregnant women should have urine tests throughout the entire pregnancy. Urinalysis is an important part of checking the kidneys of pregnant women, checking for signs of protein in the urine, and checking for sugar in the urine, all of which are important in ensuring health throughout pregnancy. When doctors examine some routine data of pregnant women, they always use urine tests to make judgments. So what can urine tests reveal? Let’s take a look together.

Urinalysis is a preliminary examination that cannot be ignored in clinical practice. Proteinuria or formed elements in urine sediment can be seen in the early stages of many kidney diseases. Once abnormal urine is discovered, it is often the first indication of kidney or urinary tract disease and often provides important clues to the nature of the pathological process. In recent years, many people have emphasized that the responsible doctor should do routine urine examination on the patient himself, which is a general diagnostic method that helps doctors discover kidney disease.

Urinalysis as part of pre-pregnancy check-up can help in early diagnosis of kidney disease. Pregnancy will increase the burden on the kidneys, and in severe cases, renal failure may occur and the risk of hypertension will be increased. Moreover, the condition will worsen as the pregnancy continues, causing miscarriage, premature birth, intrauterine growth restriction of the fetus, and even the need to terminate the pregnancy. A routine urine test can also detect problems such as urinary tract infection or diabetes.

Urine should be tested throughout pregnancy to detect signs of protein in the urine, which is a sign of a potentially serious condition called pre-eclampsia. Other signs of preeclampsia include swelling in the limbs and high blood pressure. The first line of treatment for preeclampsia is rest, but some studies have questioned whether this approach works.

When a pregnant woman has a urine test, her urine sugar level may also be tested, as that can be a sign of gestational diabetes. Doctors now recommend checking blood sugar for expectant mothers because the accuracy of blood sugar is significantly higher than urine sugar. If at any stage of pregnancy you detect high levels of sugar in your urine, you will need to have a glucose tolerance test.

The urine test is an essential diagnosis throughout the pregnancy. As we can see from the above, urine tests for pregnant women can indeed reveal many problems, especially for kidney examinations. Only by observing these problems can doctors make judgments and give reasonable and clear explanations to pregnant women. Therefore, the urine test process cannot be ignored. It is a manifestation of responsibility to pregnant women and fetuses.