How soon can frequent urination start in pregnancy
Frequent Urination During Pregnancy | Pampers
You may be wondering whether peeing a lot is a sign of pregnancy or whether this urge to pee so often will ever go away. Frequent urination is a common early pregnancy symptom, but it can also reappear later on during pregnancy as your uterus and baby grow, putting pressure on your bladder. Although it can definitely be annoying, in most cases, it's nothing to worry about. Read on to find out what causes frequent urination during pregnancy, get some tips to help you manage it, and learn the signs that indicate it may be linked to another condition, like a urinary tract infection.
What Causes Frequent Urination During Pregnancy?
What makes you need to pee more is often the increased amount of blood in your body. To process this blood flow, your kidneys need to produce extra fluids, which then end up in your bladder. Although peeing often during pregnancy is annoying, it's also a normal and common pregnancy symptom. Here are some frequently asked questions about this symptom:
What is considered frequent urination in pregnancy? There's no set number of visits to the bathroom – it's simply needing to go more often than you usually would.
When does frequent urination start during pregnancy? How soon it may start differs for each woman, but you may find yourself needing to pee more often from around six to eight weeks of pregnancy.
Will I need to pee this often the whole pregnancy? It may ease up for a while after you enter the second trimester, but you may find the increased urge to pee returns later on, as your growing baby places more pressure on your bladder. Toward the end of the third trimester, when your baby “drops," the extra pressure on your pelvis and bladder might have you rushing to pee even more frequently.
How often should you pee? Whenever you have to! It's better not to hold it in.
Tips to Manage Peeing Often While Pregnant
You can't really avoid more frequent urination, and you really wouldn't want to, as it's a natural consequence of drinking lots of fluids to stay well hydrated and healthy during pregnancy.
Here are some tips that might help make your life easier:
Lean forward when you pee so that you properly empty your bladder
To prevent increased urination at night, try not to drink too much water just before going to bed
Avoid beverages and foods containing caffeine, which can make you need to pee more often. (Read our article to find out more about what not to eat or drink while you're pregnant.)
Practice Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, as this can help prevent leaking when you cough, sneeze, or laugh, both before and after giving birth. (If you do find yourself peeing when you sneeze, consider wearing a panty liner.)
If your urine is dark yellow or orange, this may be a sign of dehydration − try to increase your fluid intake until your urine is back to a normal pale yellow
If you're heading out the door, or you know you're going into a long meeting, consider one more dash to the toilet beforehand.
You can also try to scout out where the nearest bathroom so you're not caught off guard.
Can Pregnancy Peeing Be a Sign of a Problem?
More frequent urination is usually a normal pregnancy symptom. However, sometimes it can be a sign of a medical condition that may require treatment by your healthcare provider. These conditions include:
Urinary tract infection (UTI). Many women wonder whether frequent urination is part of pregnancy or a UTI. If it's a UTI, you may notice a painful, burning sensation while peeing, have a fever, notice cloudy urine, or see blood in the toilet. You may also feel the strong urge to pee, but then only a few drops will come out. Pregnant women face an increased risk of UTI from week 6 to week 24, because the growing uterus can place pressure on the urinary tract, increasing the chance of bacterial infections. If you suspect you have a UTI, consult your healthcare provider, as this infection requires treatment – often antibiotics.
Gestational diabetes. Frequent urination can sometimes be a sign of gestational diabetes, generally a temporary form of diabetes that affects a small percentage of moms-to-be. Healthcare providers usually test for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. If gestational diabetes is treated, then the baby's health isn't adversely impacted, and the diabetes will usually go away after you give birth. If you notice symptoms like frequent urination combined with persistent thirst, nausea, or fatigue, consult your healthcare provider.
Frequent urination during early pregnancy is common and usually nothing to worry about. Although it may feel as if you are peeing all the time, keep in mind that it may ease up for a time, before returning later on. Once your baby is born, your urge to pee more often should go away, and you'll only have your newborn's pee to worry about!
Frequent Urination in Women: Pregnancy Symptom
You may feel as if you’re on an endless loop to the loo (especially annoying in the middle of the night), but frequent urination in women is normal during pregnancy.
Luckily, there are ways to ease your discomfort and to keep your bladder healthy throughout your pregnancy.
In this article:
Is frequent urination a sign of pregnancy?
What causes frequent urination?
When does frequent urination start in pregnancy?
How often is frequent urination in pregnancy?
How to stop frequent urination
Is Frequent Urination a Sign of Pregnancy?
If you feel like you’ve been making more trips to the bathroom lately, it may not be your imagination—you might just be pregnant. Frequent urination in women is a common sign of pregnancy, especially in the first couple of weeks after conception, says Sherry A. Ross, MD, a women’s health expert and author of She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Women’s Intimate Health. Period. “I’d venture to say that 99.9 percent of newly pregnant women experience frequent urination in the beginning,” she says. “Some women would tell you that it’s the symptom that drove them to do a pregnancy test.
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What Causes Frequent Urination?
There are a few things at play here. Like so many pregnancy symptoms, an increased urge to pee—at least early on in your pregnancy—can be blamed on hormones. After the embryo implants in your uterus, your body produces a pregnancy hormone called hCG (aka human chorionic gonadotropin), which can trigger more frequent urination in pregnancy, Ross says. Around the same time, a spike in progesterone, another pregnancy hormone, can also lead to that need-to-pee sensation. Unfortunately, the urge to pee often isn’t limited to just the first trimester. As your uterus expands to accommodate your growing baby, it pushes down on your bladder, urethra and pelvic floor muscles. “The pregnant uterus is compressing the bladder, so the bladder can’t expand to the same level of fullness,” explains Lauren Cadish, MD, a urogynecologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “There’s simply not as much room for the bladder in the pelvis.
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Another contributing factor? Pregnant women are probably drinking more water than usual. “Women in early pregnancy are advised to stay well hydrated, especially if they have nausea or vomiting and can’t tolerate much food,” Cadish says. “The more you drink, of course, the more pee your body makes.”
When Does Frequent Urination Start in Pregnancy?
The heightened need to pee can start as early as the first two to three weeks of your pregnancy. Most women, though, notice it more when they’re about 10 to 13 weeks along, when your uterus begins pushing on your bladder, says G. Thomas Ruiz, MD, an ob-gyn at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. The urge will likely calm down during the second trimester, at which point your uterus pushes out past your pelvis, relieving pressure on your bladder. But it’s back again around 30 weeks, when baby’s head starts pressing against your bladder.
How Often Is Frequent Urination in Pregnancy?
Before getting pregnant, most people pee between six and eight times a day, but it can vary greatly based on how well you’re staying hydrated and what you’re drinking (diuretics, like coffee, can cause you to go more often).
How frequently you’ll need to urinate in pregnancy ultimately depends on your “normal,” Ross says. For example, if you typically go eight times a day, you may start going 10 times a day—but everyone is different.
How to Stop Frequent Urination
If you’re feeling like you have to constantly pee, you may think your first move would be to cut back on fluids. Not so fast! It’s important to stay hydrated during pregnancy for the sake of baby’s health and yours, Ruiz says. So what’s a soon-to-be-mom to do? Here, a few things that may help stop frequent urination (or at least ease the flow):
• Cut down on fluids before bed. Dreading getting up in the middle of the night to hit the head? You can reduce the amount of liquids you drink in the hours leading up to bed—just make sure you’re still drinking enough during the day to maintain your overall hydration.
• Avoid caffeinated drinks. You may have cut down a little on these already, but if you haven’t, know that coffee and tea have a diuretic effect, meaning they make you go more.
• Switch up your positioning. When hanging out at home, getting off your feet may help. Some women may feel less pressure on their bladder by sitting or lying down as opposed to standing up, Cadish says.
These moves might buy you a little time, but ultimately, frequent urination is just part of being pregnant. “We don’t have any magic bullet to get urinary frequency down,” Ruiz says. Just know that it’s all temporary, and you’ll be back to your normal bathroom breaks once baby arrives.
Updated November 2017
Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.
Frequent urination during pregnancy - Juno
Article content
When is considered frequent
Urges are frequent if they occur more than 9 times a day.
Usually only a small amount of urine is passed at a time. Pregnant women may have about 20 visits to the toilet per day, while the daily amount of urine can also increase to 2 liters.
Is it an early sign of pregnancy?
HCG slightly increases the volume of urine excreted, so frequent urination begins already in the first weeks of pregnancy. The symptom does not 100% indicate the onset of fertilization - it should be considered in conjunction with other manifestations - primarily with a positive test.
However, keep in mind that with an increase in the daily volume of urine at a very early date, a false negative result is possible. Also, the symptom is less pronounced in ectopic pregnancy due to lower hCG levels, so an examination is required in any case.
If you began to frequent the toilet and there is a delay, then pregnancy is very likely.
Physiological causes of frequent urination in pregnant women
In healthy women, this phenomenon is associated with the body getting used to carrying a baby, as well as with other physiological reasons.
In the first half of pregnancy
The main causes of frequent urination during early pregnancy:
- Increased progesterone production. This hormone relaxes muscle tissue, helping to maintain pregnancy. As a result, urine is retained worse, the urge to void becomes more frequent due to the reduced tone of the bladder.
- Increased blood supply in the pelvis. Due to the proximity of the bladder to the uterus, its increased sensitivity occurs - filling receptors react more strongly.
- Active work of the kidneys. During the bearing of a child, the renal blood flow increases 1.5 times for the constant renewal of amniotic fluid and the timely removal of metabolic products. Accordingly, more urine begins to be produced.
Physiological increase in urination does not cause pain and discomfort, itching and burning. In the presence of negative symptoms, you need to consult a doctor to rule out pathologies.
Second half of pregnancy
The main reason for frequent urge to urinate in the second and third trimester is the increased pressure of the uterus on the bladder.
However, diseases can also be the cause:
- Infections. Changes in the pelvis in pregnant women and a decrease in protective forces increase the risk of developing urethritis, cystitis, pyelonephritis. Such pathologies are accompanied not only by frequent urination, but also by pain, discomfort in the area of inflammation, and a burning sensation. The woman's health is deteriorating;
- Gestational diabetes. An increase in blood glucose in violation of carbohydrate metabolism. The amount of urine separated increases significantly.
Other pathologies include neoplasms in the small pelvis, endocrine and neurological disorders.
Soreness with frequent urination in pregnant women - is it normal or not?
Painful urination is not normal. Unpleasant sensations indicate the development of a pathological process. Pain and discomfort are a sign of urinary tract irritation. Cystitis is very likely if a woman has severely reduced immunity or has chronic diseases of the pelvic organs.
Sometimes it can be accompanied by a temperature and requires a mandatory visit to the doctor.
Calls at night
Pregnant women often complain about how tired they are at night "hiking". The situation is explained by the fact that the work of the kidneys depends on the position of the body. In the later stages, the female body is prone to fluid retention and edema, especially when in an upright position. When the expectant mother lies down, the renal blood flow and the outflow of fluid from the tissues increase. As a result, the kidneys excrete more urine.
What is the duration of frequent urination during pregnancy?
The phenomenon begins already from the first days of pregnancy and is especially pronounced up to about 12 weeks. Later, the number of emptyings gradually decreases, because by 4-5 months the body adapts to new conditions. The diaphragm rises, creating more space for the growing uterus and "unloading" the pelvic organs.
Frequent urination during pregnancy in the second trimester may indicate the addition of an infection or the development of inflammation, but it is also possible as a manifestation of the individual characteristics of the organism.
You can find out more precisely this moment from your doctor, who is involved in pregnancy management.
In the third trimester, the opposite phenomenon is possible - fluid retention. However, the closer the birth, the more often the urge to urinate becomes. In the last month of gestation, the uterus descends and puts pressure on the organs of the urinary system.
How likely is miscarriage in the absence of frequent urination?
A woman does not always immediately find out about a missed pregnancy. Fetal movements are not felt in the early stages, so pregnant women "listen" to other signs. In the first weeks, the abrupt cessation of toxicosis and frequent urge to urinate are alarming. These symptoms can indeed indicate the death or developmental delay of the fetus, as well as an ectopic pregnancy, but not always. Toward the end of the first trimester, the kidneys excrete less urine, in some this has been observed since 9‒10 weeks.
How to deal with frequent urination during pregnancy: tips
In the absence of pathologies, the discomfort caused by physiological frequent urination can be reduced as follows:
- Stay hydrated.
Drink enough, but don't overdo it. Give preference to water over sugary drinks like coffee. - Eat rationally. Eliminate diuretic foods (citrus fruits, spicy foods), as well as things that cause constipation.
- Exercise. Strengthen your pelvic muscles by training your vaginal and anus sphincters.
- Get more rest. Sleep during the day is very useful, especially in the later stages - after being in a horizontal position, the bladder empties faster, as a result, the load on the kidneys during night rest is reduced.
- Maintain immunity. Avoid hypothermia, take vitamin complexes as prescribed by the doctor.
- Empty your bladder as much as possible. Do not hold back the urge and try to make sure that all the urine comes out completely. In this regard, it is easier to urinate in the shower.
Control your condition. If other symptoms (pain, fever, burning sensation) appear in addition to frequent urination, tell your doctor immediately.
Obstetrician-gynecologist,
anti-aging medicine specialist,
Candidate of Medical Sciences
Chizhova Yuliya Anatolyevna
Harbingers - childbirth is coming soon!
Wrestler Maria Vladimirovna
Obstetrician-gynecologist
Clinical Hospital MD GROUP, Clinic "Mother and Child" Savelovskaya
False contractions
They may appear after the 38th week of pregnancy. False contractions are similar to Braxton-Hicks contractions, which a woman could already feel starting from the second trimester of pregnancy (the uterus seems to stiffen for a few seconds - a couple of minutes, then the tension in it subsides). False contractions train the uterus before childbirth, they are irregular and painless, the intervals between them are not reduced. Real labor pains, on the contrary, are regular, their strength gradually increases, they become longer and more painful, and the intervals between them are reduced.
That's when you can already say that the birth began for real. In the meantime, false contractions are going on, it is not necessary to go to the maternity hospital - you can easily survive them at home.
Abdominal prolapse
Approximately two to three weeks before birth, the baby, in preparation for birth, presses the presenting part (usually the head) against the lower part of the uterus and pulls it down. As a result, the uterus moves lower into the pelvic region, its upper part ceases to put pressure on the internal organs of the chest and abdominal cavity. In the people it is called - the stomach dropped. As soon as the stomach drops, the expectant mother notices that it has become easier for her to breathe, but, on the contrary, it becomes more difficult to sit and walk. Heartburn and belching also disappear (after all, the uterus no longer presses on the diaphragm and stomach). But, having dropped down, the uterus begins to put pressure on the bladder - naturally, urination becomes more frequent.
For some, uterine prolapse causes a feeling of heaviness in the lower abdomen and even slight pain in the area of the inguinal ligaments. These sensations arise due to the fact that the child's head, moving down, irritates the nerve endings of the pelvic organs.
During the second and subsequent births, the belly drops later - right before the birth. It happens that this harbinger of childbirth is not at all.
Removal of the mucous plug
This is one of the main and obvious harbingers of childbirth. During pregnancy, the glands in the cervix produce a secret (it looks like a thick jelly and forms the so-called cork), which prevents various microorganisms from entering the uterine cavity. Before childbirth, under the influence of estrogens, the cervix softens, the cervical canal opens slightly and the cork can come out - the woman will see that there are mucus clots on the linen that look like jelly. Cork can be of different colors - white, transparent, yellowish-brown or pink-red.
Often it is stained with blood - this is completely normal and may indicate that childbirth will occur within the next day. The mucus plug can come out all at once (at once) or come out piecemeal throughout the day.
Weight loss
Approximately two weeks before delivery, weight loss may occur, usually by 0.5–2 kg. This happens because excess fluid is removed from the body and swelling decreases. If earlier during pregnancy, under the influence of the hormone progesterone, fluid in the body of a pregnant woman accumulated, now, before childbirth, the effect of progesterone decreases, but other female sex hormones - estrogens - begin to work hard, they remove excess fluid from the body of the expectant mother.
In addition, the expectant mother often notices that at the end of pregnancy it became easier for her to put on rings, gloves, shoes - this means that swelling on the hands and feet has decreased.
Changes in stool
Right before childbirth, hormones often act on the intestines - they relax its muscles, as a result, stool disorder begins.
Sometimes such frequent (up to 2-3 times a day) and even loose stools are mistaken for an intestinal infection. But if there is no nausea, vomiting, discoloration and smell of feces, or any other symptoms of intoxication, you should not worry: this is one of the harbingers of the upcoming birth.
On the eve of childbirth, you often don't feel like eating at all. All this is also the preparation of the body for natural childbirth.
Mood changes
Many women experience mood changes a few days before giving birth. The expectant mother gets tired quickly, she wants to have more rest, sleep, even some kind of apathy appears. This state is quite understandable - you need to gather strength to prepare for childbirth. Often, just before giving birth, a woman wants to retire, looking for a secluded place where you can hide and focus on yourself and your experiences.
What should I do if there are any signs of childbirth? Usually you don’t need to do anything, because the harbingers are completely natural, they just say that the body is rebuilding and preparing for the birth of a child.
