Do you feel like rushing to the washroom every ten minutes? Frequent urination during pregnancy is one of the most common signs of early pregnancy. It could start as early as six weeks into the first trimester. Most women experience the need to relieve their bladders, even before the other signs of pregnancy start to surface.
Pregnancy brings about hormonal changes; one of these changes causes blood to flow more swiftly and quickly through your kidneys, filling your bladder more frequently. Over the period of your pregnancy, your body creates 50% more blood than before you got pregnant. The effect of this is a lot of extra fluid gets processed through the kidneys, ending up in the bladder.
Apart from this, and eventually, there might also be pressure on the bladder and the urethra from your growing unborn child.
You may also notice the need to 'go' more often in night; it is believed that this happens as the position of lying down brings all the fluid from your legs and feet during the day, into the bloodstream and then, into the bladder.
Some pregnancy books say that frequent urination reduces during the second trimester as the uterus rises out of the pelvis, however research hasn’t proven this idea. Studies conducted have shown that both, the volume and frequency of urination increased over the course of the pregnancy.
So what can be done about this natural but annoying phenomenon? There are a few recommended ways to help reduce your trips to the bathroom. For starters, avoid beverages that have mild diuretic effects like coffee, tea and alcohol (although you shouldn’t be consuming alcohol at all now). Drink plenty of fluids during the day and gradually reduce it at night, this will help towards lessening the amount of times you have to wake up to urinate. Emptying your bladder completely helps; you can do this by leaning forward when peeing.
Frequent urination during pregnancy is normal and common but you should talk to your doctor if you experience pain, a burning sensation or continuously feel the urge to urinate but only a few droplets come out. This could be signs of UTIs.
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