Frequent urination during pregnancy: Causes and what to do

When faced with this question, the answer is clear: YES, the constant urge to urinate in pregnancy is normal . In fact, it is considered one of the first symptoms of pregnancy that can be noticed easily. So, if suddenly in the last days you feel frequent urination, you may be within the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, so it is recommended that you take a pregnancy test and go to the doctor. The reasons why there is a constant feeling of urge to urinate in pregnancy are, mainly, three and are closely related to each other:

• Hormonal changes: when you get pregnant, your body begins to have changes in the hormones it produces, reducing or eliminating some and starting to produce others. These hormonal changes cause more blood flow, causing the kidneys to filter more blood in the same time, which increases the volume of urine production.
• Increase in blood volume: the increase in blood flow is not only produced by hormones, but it is also increased by the body in order to develop the embryo and carry the pregnancy to term. This increase is necessary to nourish the baby’s cells, both to deliver nutrients and oxygen, and to eliminate carbon dioxide and waste at the same time. Thus, the kidneys must filter more blood and produce more urine.
• The uterus grows: as the embryo develops, it increases in size and the uterus must do the same. In doing so, there are organs of the mother that are repositioned, leaving space, and it is normal to feel heaviness or pressure in areas such as the stomach or bladder. This makes the bladder have less room to fill, leading to the need to empty it more often. The more advanced the pregnancy is, the less space is left for the bladder.

One of the most common questions regarding this aspect of pregnancy is how often a pregnant woman urinates or how many times a pregnant woman urinates , since there are many future moms who want to have a reference of this type to know to what extent it is normal or well, in your case it is too frequent or too little and thus go to the doctor. However, it is not something mathematical, each body is different and also depending on the phase of pregnancy it can change.

It is common that at first you need to go to the bathroom every two hours or even every hour. However, sometimes this decreases a little during the first months and then, as soon as the baby begins to reach a certain size, towards the middle of the gestation, the desire to pee constantly increases again, since the bladder becomes visible. more pressed. When the gestation is quite advanced it is common to have to go to the bathroom every few minutes, for example every quarter of an hour or every half hour.

Although, for most pregnant women, having to go to the bathroom to urinate continuously throughout the day is very difficult to solve, there are some things that can be done to urinate less during pregnancy :

• Empty the bladder completely: you have to make sure that every time you go to the bathroom the bladder is completely emptied. The best way to be sure is to lean forward with light pressure on your belly and bladder.
• Do not hold back the urge to urinate: another very important aspect is that you do not have to hold back your pee, but you have to try to go to the toilet as soon as you start to feel the feeling of wanting to pee. This is so because the fact of holding the urge to pee , causes more urine to accumulate and the bladder to dilate, which will also end up weakening the pelvic floor muscles.
• Avoid some drinks: there are drinks that can be more diuretic than water, such as tea, coffee, some infusions, such as horsetail, beer (even without alcohol), etc., although some of these drinks should not be take during pregnancy. In any case, it is advisable to take diuretic infusions, for example, if you need to relieve fluid retention, but keep in mind that then you will urinate more.
• Do gymnastics: maintaining good shape during pregnancy is vital for the health of the baby and the mother, but you should do gymnastics for pregnant women or suitable and preferably guided exercises, attending classes. Some of the most recommended exercises that will help you with the bladder problem and will help you avoid incontinence, are those specific to the pelvic floor .

It is very important to keep in mind that you cannot stop drinking to urinate less , hydration is necessary for everyone, but it is vital for the development of the fetus. Just keep in mind the types of drinks you drink and the daily amounts. In these cases, it is highly recommended to discuss each particular case with the specialist doctor, who will advise the best.

There are also those who not only need to empty their bladder frequently, but also realize that they urinate a small amount, something that is consistent with the symptoms of some urinary problems that anyone can suffer, whether they are pregnant or not. Therefore, it is in these cases that there is more concern.

Thus, you have to know that there are times when it is normal to urinate little in pregnancy, specifically when the baby already occupies so much space that the bladder is constantly pressed, needing to empty every few minutes. For this reason, frequent and little urination in pregnancy can be normal but also very annoying and even painful. It is for this reason that specialists recommend drinking fluids very frequently to ensure that when you have the need to go to the bathroom, you are sure that enough urine comes out to prevent it from hurting.

On the other hand, sometimes it can be a urinary problem due, for example, to an infection or kidney stones, among other conditions. For this reason, it is necessary to go to the gynecologist both for check-ups and if you feel that there may be a problem. Specifically, it is necessary to go if you have other symptoms such as burning and pain, both in the genital area and in the back, which increase when urinating, if there is blood, a bad smell in the urine and pain in the lower part of the belly.

As mentioned before, it may be that after the first weeks of pregnancy the need to pee every so often is reduced, but it will soon return and it will become more and more frequent. If you wonder when this need to come and go to the toilet while pregnant is going to be reduced or when it will disappear, you will be interested to know what will happen once the baby is born .

Specifically, just the first days after delivery, the volume of urine will increase, so you will have more desire and you will expel more volume. This is because the body needs to eliminate excess fluids that it has retained for pregnancy. After these days, you will see how the need to pee will return to the normal rhythm that you had before you got pregnant.

It is possible that after pregnancy and childbirth there is urinary incontinence , which can also occur throughout pregnancy, especially in elderly women, with low physical shape or who have already gestated and given birth before.

This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

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