“Pregnant related infection?”

Hello,

I am not concerned about the lack of weight gain, however, a bladder infection in pregnancy, left untreated, can be dangerous. I would recommend going to a Quickcare, and, if there is not one near you, you should go to the ER. I realize that you do not want to do this given the epidemic, however, the benefits outweigh the risks.
I hope that this helps.

Sincerely,

Joseph A. Adashek, MD FACOG

Metronidazole is not usually used during pregnancy and not for bladder infections. Depending on where you live, you may be safe now to be seen in the clinic. That way, you can have a urine evaluation to see what antibiotic is appropriate. Macrobid is usually an effective antibiotic for urinary tract infections and is safe in pregnancy.

Having a UTI in pregnancy, especially in the final trimester of last 3months can actually trigger uterine irritability and cause bladder contractions that then cause the pregnant uterus that sits on top of it to also get irritable and may trigger false labor or preterm labor where the cervix actually starts to prematurely soften, thin and dilate. Regardless, UTI’s are not comfortable and can actually lead to a kidney infection, travelling from the bladder up to the kidneys; this will usually trigger a fever of 101 or greater and require IV antibiotics. Kidney infections can also trigger preterm labor and dehydration; and can sometimes end up with a tendency to recurrent UTI’s, repeat kidney infections or even kidney damage. You need to call your doctor’s office and request a sterile urine cup with the antiseptic wipe that is labeled with your name and the lab requisition slip; someone needs to pick that up for you from their office (that can be handed off in a bag with ‘no contact’ or minimal contact and that specimen then needs to be a clean catch middle of your urine stream urine sample (clean front to back with the wipe, start to urinate in the toilet and then catch only the middle part of the urine stream in the cup, place the cover back on WITHOUT TOUCHING THE INSIDE OF THE CAP OR THE CUP ITSELF). Then the urine specimen that has your name on it and the requisition can be dropped off at a lab or back at the doctor’s office, whatever instructions they give you so that you can get the urine cultured. If there is indeed a UTI, then you will need antibiotics more than 95% of the time to get rid of it. Meanwhile, drink a lot of oral fluids; water, milk, tea, weak coffee but NOT FRUIT JUICES as they contain sugar and NOT SODA as that contains chemicals that irritate a bladder and are not good for babies. You CAN drink pure cranberry juice (no sugar) or take cranberry pills (available at Walgreens, CVS or any pharmacy) and then continue to drink water; cranberry helps an irritable bladder. The medication you mentioned is not a bad option but you need to know if you indeed have a bladder infection or not… There are also pills that can help take the sting out of urinating called Azothiaprine but I would check with your OB or midwife before taking anything like that; you really need the urine culture first.

This seems urgent enough to allow you to come out of quarantine to have care. Please contact your ob/gyn to explain the situation- you need to be evaluated.