Urine Tests During Pregnancy

Time to get acquainted with that plastic cup! Learn why urine testing during pregnancy is important.

Two of pregnancy's trickier problems aregestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy) andpreeclampsia(pregnancy-induced high blood pressure), both of which have markers that show up in your urine. That's why at each and every prenatal visit, your doctor will want to test your urine — lucky you!

WHAT THE TEST LOOKS FOR

The presence of glucose (or sugar) may indicate the beginning of gestational diabetes, while protein in your urine during pregnancy can be a sign of preeclampsia. In order for your practitioner to confirm either condition, more tests need to be done, but a quick urinalysis at each visit gives your practitioner a heads-up that's something's going on in there. Your doctor will also keep an eye out for red or white blood cells in your urine sample, which can be a sign of a UTI (urinary tract infection) that's easily treated with antibiotics.

HOW IT'S DONE

You provide the sample (so strategically time your drinking and tinkling before each visit), and then a nurse or technician either uses a dipstick or puts a few drops of urine onto testing strips (one for protein in urine during pregnancy, another for glucose). A quick color change indicates a positive test.

IF YOU TEST POSITIVE

If you test positive for glucose in your urine, try not to stress: Up to 50 percent of women do at some point during pregnancy. This is absolutely normal and expected: The majority will not develop gestational diabetes. But if you have a positive glucose urine test two visits in a row, your practitioner will probably have you take aglucose screening test sooner rather than later.

If your protein test is positive, your practitioner will follow up to see if you have any other symptoms of preeclampsia and will possibly do further tests to determine if the cause is preeclampsia.

RISKS

There are no risks of taking urine tests to you or your pregnancy — though the mechanics of peeing into a plastic cup get pretty interesting in your ninth month. So just go with the flow, Mama.