Urinalysis is the most common during pregnancy. His woman hands over before each trip to the doctor. Any changes in the composition of the secreted fluid can tell the doctor a lot about the well-being of the expectant mother and the baby she is carrying.
In this article, we will talk about why the urine of a pregnant woman becomes cloudy, and what to do in this situation.
Clarity of urine
This criterion is necessarily assessed by laboratory specialists during the general analysis. Normally, the fluid secreted in a healthy adult should be completely transparent in all shades of yellow - from delicate straw to bright amber. There should be no sediment or foreign inclusions in the liquid.
Cloudy urine lab technicians call urine with incomplete transparency. The clarity of the secreted fluid is lost when there are certain substances in it. The kidneys remove with liquid everything that the body ceases to need - waste products, salts, toxins and even epithelial cells that have died out according to their physiological life cycle.
The content of all these substances and cells that have become unnecessary for the body in urine, which is more than 90% water, is not noticeable to the eye. If, for a number of reasons, the quantitative content of impurities does not change upwards. This is how turbidity arises, which raises so many questions for expectant mothers.
Turbidity reasons
Cloudy fluid secreted by the kidneys during pregnancy may be a sign of a woman's ignorance of the rules for taking an analysis or ignoring them. So, if the external genitals are poorly washed, vaginal secretions can enter the morning urine sample, and the transparency of the sample will be lost.
If the jar is taken to the laboratory for more than 2 hours, a white precipitate may form on the bottom of the container with liquid. When shaken, the liquid also ceases to be transparent.
The sediment at the bottom of the jar is uric acid. That is why it is recommended that the collected fluid be brought to laboratory testing as soon as possible.
This turbidity is not a pathological sign. However, turbidity of the liquid immediately after collection or collection of an already cloudy liquid is difficult to call normal. Transparency is often lost due to internal violations. Here are just some of the possible causes.
Salt
Large amounts of phosphorus, calcium in urine, phosphates, urates and oxolates can make the secreted fluid cloudy or completely cloudy, like milk.
In the secondary urine, which is what a woman collects for laboratory research, all these impurities can get into if the kidneys do not cope well with their functions, if there are inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract. In pregnant women, the amount of excreted salts is physiologically reduced, because many of these compounds are used to form the skeleton of the child.
An increase in the content of salts in the urine is an alarming symptom. However, a decrease in phosphate also leads to a clouding of fluid excreted from the body.
Bacteria and blood cells
With bacterial inflammation in the body, some of the pathogenic individuals penetrate through the kidney filters into the urine, so it becomes cloudy. Among the blood cells, erythrocytes and leukocytes are most often found in the secreted fluid.
Increased or decreased acidity of urine
Both overly acidic and alkaline environments can affect the clarity of the fluid released. An acid imbalance can be associated with kidney disease or thyroid problems.
Low acidity can speak about the potassium deficiency in the body of the expectant mother.
Concentration
The urine may be cloudy in women who drink little fluids and experience dehydration. For example, if the expectant mother in the first trimester has severe toxicosis, which occurs with vomiting.
The less urine is excreted in general, the more concentrated it is, the more likely it is to lose its transparency.
Cloudy urine is more common in the second and third trimester than in the early stages. This is due to the pressure exerted by the grown uterus on the kidneys and ureters. At any month of pregnancy, the discovery of cloudy urine in oneself is a reason for an unscheduled visit to the doctor. Don't wait for the next appointment: the sooner the true reason for what is happening is found, the better it will be for everyone.
Diagnostics
In addition to transparency, the color and odor of the liquid emitted are of great importance. If it not only became cloudy, but also changed its normal color, and also acquired an unpleasant, pungent odor, this may indicate a serious inflammatory process in the kidneys or different parts of the urinary tract.
Depending on which section is affected, mucus, erythrocytes, leukocytes can be found in the fluid. Accurate quantification takes place in the laboratory.
To detect urates, the sample is heated. The cloudy liquid becomes completely transparent, like a tear, when heated, if it contains these salts.
If there are carbonate salts in the urine, then acetic acid can be detected. It is added in certain quantities to the sample. If foam appears and the color changes, the problem lies in the carbonate compounds.
The amount of uric acid is indicated by the reactions that occur in a test tube when combined with hydrochloric acid. But blood cells are determined, as they say, by eye - that is, by a microscopic method. Erythrocytes and leukocytes are counted "manually". Bacterial culture allows to establish bacteria in the secreted liquid.
If only the morning portion becomes cloudy, and everyone else is within normal limits, most likely there is nothing to worry about. It's just that the morning fluid is always more concentrated than subsequent servings. But for an evening dress, a cloudy liquid is not characteristic, normally by the evening it becomes more transparent.
Danger
Clouding of urine itself is not dangerous. The consequences of ignoring the true reasons that led to the loss of transparency can be dangerous. So, an excess of salts can cause the development of urolithiasis and a very dangerous condition - kidney stones.
Untreated inflammation of the kidneys or urinary tract, as a result of which the fluid becomes cloudy from bacteria or leukocytes in it, can become complicated and become chronic.
Hormonal disbalance, about which the nature of the secreted fluid can also "signal", and is completely dangerous because hormones or their deficiency can affect not only maternal health, but also the health of the baby.
In the early stages, it is dangerous with a miscarriage, in the later stages, with premature birth. At any time, hormonal imbalance is dangerous with the possibility of the death of the baby.
Treatment
Not always cloudy urine is a reason for serious drug treatment. Sometimes it will be enough for the doctor who sees the data from the laboratory to adjust the diet of the expectant mother.
If there is an excess of salts in the urine a gentle diet is recommended... Smoked foods, pickles and marinades, an abundance of spices, fried and spicy foods are removed from the diet of a pregnant woman. The consumption of table salt is minimized.
It is useful to change the drinking regimen, to make the use of the most ordinary clean drinking water sufficient. If a woman has a tendency to form edema, the exact amount of water per day should be discussed with the attending physician.
If there is no gestosis, then it is permissible to drink up to 2 liters per day. Birch sap helps to normalize the water-salt balance. But not the one that is sold in three-liter cans in all grocery stores. This is a real birch term, which is harvested in the spring. It should be drunk without added sugar. Celery juice comes to the aid of a pregnant woman in the fight against salts in urine.
If bacteria and blood cells are found in the urine, an additional examination is required, it is also advisable to do an ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder and visit a nephrologist.
When pyelonephritis, cystitis and other unpleasant inflammatory diseases of the urinary system are detected, treatment is prescribed that corresponds to a specific diagnosis. It usually includes diuretics, vitamins, anti-inflammatory drugs, and physiotherapy. Sometimes there is a need for the use of antibiotics, which the doctor chooses for the expectant mother.
In the diet of a pregnant woman in this case add protein foods - meat and fish, chicken eggs, beets and potatoes. The ban on spicy, smoked, fried and fatty foods remains. It is also not recommended to consume large amounts of cottage cheese and fermented milk products.
Despite the numerous traditional medicine tips that offer the expectant mother to quickly get rid of the turbidity, all decoctions and herbal teas should be consumed only after discussing their recipes with the attending physician - many herbs that are very useful for non-pregnant women can be very harmful while waiting for a child.
Turbidity against the background of toxicosis of pregnant women, observed for up to 12 weeks, needs to be consulted by a gynecologist, who will help to choose the correct drinking regimen and diet in order to eliminate dehydration and minimize the effects of vomiting in the first trimester.
Cloudy light urine with whitish flakes in the later stages may indicate an increased protein content, which in some cases does not require any treatment if there are no other symptoms of gestosis.
Clouding of fluid due to hormonal disruption requires mandatory consultation of an endocrinologist, to which a woman will be advised to go with the results of a blood test for hormones. As a rule, the color and transparency of the secreted fluid return to normal after the pregnant woman is prescribed appropriate treatment aimed at normalizing the hormonal background.
The liquid that is secreted by the kidneys is very individual in composition and depends on medicines, foodstuffs that the expectant mother eats, on chronic diseases that have a history, and on many other reasons and factors. Treatment in each case is also prescribed individually.
Next, we recommend watching a video from which you will find out what the color of urine says.
Prevention
A woman "in position" will be able to avoid problems with the kidneys and urinary system if from the very beginning of the gestation period she makes it a rule to eat right, not overeat, and not "get carried away" with prohibited foods.
If a woman had problems with kidney or bladder health before conception, she should inform her obstetrician-gynecologist about this during the first visit to the doctor about pregnancy.
Pregnant women should be more attentive to personal hygiene, preventing bacteria from the rectum to penetrate the external genitalia, and from there into the genitourinary system.
When taking a sample for analysis, you should wash well and close the entrance to the vagina with a cotton swab so that foreign impurities do not get into the sample, which can not only disturb the transparency of urine, but also change its composition.
