Diagnosis | Protein in urine during pregnancy

Diagnosis

During pregnancy, the urine is regularly examined by the gynaecologist. This is also because the doctor wants to rule out the possibility of bacteria colonizing the urinary tract and causing infections there. Protein in the urine can also be easily detected with a standard urine test strip.

The result is positive from a content of more than 8mg/dl. However, the urine strip test reacts mainly to albumin. If you would like to know more about whether you excrete protein in your urine, you should have a 24-hour urine sample tested. An indication for the pregnant woman may be that her urine foams more in the morning, which often indicates that protein is excreted.

Therapy

Protein in urine during pregnancy does not need to be treated at all in most cases, as small amounts of protein are not a disease. However, it should be excluded that other diseases requiring treatment are behind it. This could be, for example, an infection of the urinary tract, which would also have to be treated with antibiotics during pregnancy.

On the other hand, there are pregnancy poisonings (gestoses) such as pre-eclampsia, which is associated with high blood pressure, protein excretion in the urine and water retention in the legs. However, this is the exception.