All4Baby » bladder weakness in pregnancy https://all4baby.co.za From Pregnancy to birth to baby and beyond. The place to find, chat, and share. Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:09:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=301 UTI in pregnancy: Symptoms, complications and treatment https://all4baby.co.za/pregnancy/conditions-complications/1128/uti-pregnancy-symptoms-complications-treatment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uti-pregnancy-symptoms-complications-treatment https://all4baby.co.za/pregnancy/conditions-complications/1128/uti-pregnancy-symptoms-complications-treatment/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2014 08:39:55 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=1128 Pregnant women have an increased risk for UTI’s between six and 24 weeks of pregnancy.

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When a strong, frequent urge to ‘go’ is accompanied by burning and painful urination, you’re probably suffering from UTI.

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is a bacterial infection in the urinary tract.

Pregnant women have an increased risk

Urinary tract infections are most common in women, especially if they are pregnant.

Physical and hormonal changes in the urinary tract during pregnancy often create the ideal environment for bacteria to flourish, which make pregnant women more susceptible to infection.

As the uterus grows, its increased weight can block the drainage of urine from the bladder. This stagnant urine is likely to cause urinary tract infection.

The increase of progesterone also causes the muscles that line the urine-making urethras to relax, which can allow bacteria to rise up into the bladder more easily than when you’re not pregnant.

Complications of a UTI in pregnancy

If the UTI goes untreated, it may lead to a kidney infection, which can be potentially life-threatening for mother and baby. Kidney infections may cause premature labour and low birth weight.

UTI symptoms

  • Feeling an urgent need to urinate
  • Frequent urination
  • Finding it difficult to urinate
  • Experiencing a burning sensation whilst urinating
  • Cramps in your lower back or lower abdomen
  • Urine that looks cloudy or has an odour

An asymptomatic infection

Pregnant women might not experience any symptoms, and it is therefore recommended that all pregnant women get checked for this ‘asymptomatic’ infection.

Treating a UTI

Conventional antibiotic treatments may clear up the infection, but they also kill the good bacteria in your body, which can be detrimental to your health over the long term.

About the Author: UTI’s during pregnancy can be safely treated with DMannose. DMannose is a pleasant tasting soluble powder that works quickly to stop UTI in its tracks by flushing the E.coli bacteria from your system, thus ensuring that the infection won’t recur. For a comprehensive stockist list, see the DMannose website under the “pharmacies” tab.

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World continence week: Focus on moms https://all4baby.co.za/pregnancy/conditions-complications/1059/world-continence-week-focus-moms/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=world-continence-week-focus-moms https://all4baby.co.za/pregnancy/conditions-complications/1059/world-continence-week-focus-moms/#comments Tue, 24 Jun 2014 08:33:03 +0000 https://all4baby.co.za/?p=1059 This year's World Continence week, being held from 23 to 29 June focuses on pelvic floor exercise in pregnancy, childbirth and beyond.

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One of the biggest predictors of urinary incontinence is pregnancy – the more pregnancies a woman has had, the greater the prevalence of urinary incontinence, also known as bladder weakness.

And interestingly, the biggest increase in risk occurs when you go from having had no children to one child.

40% of women experience bladder weakness

In fact, the EPINCONT study conducted in Norway showed that if you had no children, your risk of incontinence would be 10%. Vaginal delivery increased that to 21% and a C-section increased the risk to 16%.

With this in mind, and with figures that indicate up to 40% of women experience bladder weakness as a result of pregnancy, the focus of this year’s World Continence week, being held from 23 to 29 June, is Pelvic Floor Exercise in Pregnancy, Childbirth and Beyond.

Natural delivery preferred

The difference between the two forms of childbirth is because of the child’s head going through the birth canal. But, experts say this is not good enough case for more C-sections, estimating they would have to do eight to nine C-sections to protect one woman from bladder weakness.

Vaginal delivery is still preferred because C-sections carry other risks.

Other factors that contribute to bladder weakness

There are also other factors that contribute to bladder weakness – being overweight also heightens your risk of incontinence – each BMI unit you add to your body composition increases your risk of urinary incontinence by 8%. (A normal BMI is below 25.) So it’s vital that all women – whether or not they are mothers – ensure they stick to a healthy body weight.

Practice pelvic floor health

Pelvic floor health is a crucial step in preventing incontinence and should be practised by all women of childbearing age before, during and after pregnancy to keep the risk of urinary incontinence as low as possible.

Clinical trials show that pregnant women who do proper pelvic floor exercises are half as likely to experience incontinence in late pregnancy than women who do not, and are also less likely to have symptoms six months after their baby is born.

The pelvic floor muscles run around the anus where they converge, and then continue around the vagina and urethra. After giving birth, the area may feel tender and it may be hard to clench the muscles.

Exercise your pelvic floor daily

To start with, lie on your back or side with your knees bent. Clench the sphincter around your anus, then clench forwards and upwards around the vagina and the opening of the urethra. Imagine you’re doing up a ‘zip’ up, starting from the back and clenching all the way forward to your clitoris. Do several gentle clenches, ideally 20, one after the other, and do these exercises daily.

Struggling with urine leakage?

And if you are struggling with urine leakage, a purpose-designed incontinence product is a must. TENA’s products are designed to deal with issues beyond leakage and odour – they absorb liquid fast, limiting the time any moisture is in contact with your skin.

They also have superb retention properties, and the material is designed so that the liquid spreads through it, ensuring that no single area is soaked through.

For more information or advice, please call TENA on 0860 673 377 or visit www.tena.co.za or shop online at www.tenashop.co.za.

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