Withholding pee during pregnancy, is there any danger?

Many women choose to hold their pee while pregnant. Pregnant women may choose to hold their pee because they are afraid of the hassle or because they are lazy to go to the bathroom at night while sleeping. However, can pregnant women refrain from urinating? Check out the answer below.

Can you hold pee while pregnant?

It's not okay to hold on to pee, whether you're pregnant or not. Why so? Holding urine during pregnancy can cause health problems, one of which is urinary tract infection (UTI).

Pregnant women have a higher risk of getting a UTI. The more often you hold pee or are accustomed to doing it, the higher the risk of pregnant women experiencing UTIs during pregnancy.

Is it fair to frequently urinate and have the habit of holding back pee during pregnancy?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, it's very common for pregnant women to urinate or urinate easily beser while pregnant. In medical terms, this condition is called incontinence which occurs during pregnancy or after childbirth.

Not infrequently, pregnant women are unable to hold urine during pregnancy which makes the urine come out just like that or wet the bed. The bigger the fetus in the womb, holding back urine during pregnancy is often a difficult thing to do.

The bladder has a unique working system. The bladder is a round, muscular organ that sits atop the pelvis.

A pocket called the urethra allows urine to flow into the bladder. Well, this bladder muscle will relax when it fills with urine. The muscles relax so that the bladder can collect urine before it is excreted.

Meanwhile, other muscles keep the bladder closed until you are ready to urinate. If you hold your urine, whether you are pregnant or not, your bladder muscles will work harder than usual.

If allowed to hold urine, especially during pregnancy, this condition can cause various problems, one of which is urinary tract infection.

The phase of urination for pregnant women is according to gestational age

The intensity of urination that is getting more frequent makes some of you choose to hold your pee while pregnant. Even though it is sometimes annoying, in fact frequent urination is very common when you are pregnant.

The older the pregnancy, the more frequent you will urinate because the fetus starts to move and push the bladder a lot.

The following is the intensity of urination according to the trimester of pregnancy:

First trimester

The intensity of urination will be more frequent when entering the first two weeks after conception or around the time of the start of menstruation. The feeling of wanting to hold urine during pregnancy is generally felt at this first gestational age.

Not only the intensity of urination, your breasts are also softer and start to feel nauseous in the morning or morning sickness .

Hormonal changes early in pregnancy lead to increased flow of blood and fluids in the body. This makes the kidneys work hard enough and urine production increases.

In this first trimester, the uterus begins to grow and puts pressure on the bladder. This enlargement of the uterus then makes you feel like continuing to hold your pee while pregnant because it is too large.

Second trimester

Entering the second trimester of pregnancy, your body begins to adapt to new changes. In this phase, the uterus begins to rise into the abdominal cavity as the fetus grows in size.

Now, considering that the uterus begins to climb into the abdominal cavity, your bladder is less depressed. This makes the feeling of wanting to hold pee during pregnancy less often than in the first trimester.

Third trimester

In the third trimester of gestation, the position of the uterus increasingly enters the pelvis and pushes the bladder. It is not uncommon when you enter 28 weeks of pregnancy until delivery, you will feel it beser and difficulty holding urine during pregnancy.

The intensity of urination and volume of urine excreted is usually quite a lot. However, you should not hold your pee while pregnant because of the risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Why does holding back urine during pregnancy increase the risk of urinary tract infections?

During pregnancy, women urinate more frequently. This is caused by hormonal changes during pregnancy, an increase in the amount and speed of blood circulating through your body, and the growth of the uterus.

Hormonal changes make blood flow to the kidneys faster and blood volume also increases about 50 percent from pre-pregnancy conditions.

As a result, the increasing speed of filling the bladder and the volume of urine causes pregnant women to go back and forth to the bathroom more often. If you are lazy, you can't help but hold your pee while pregnant.

The more often you hold urine during pregnancy, the bacteria will stay longer in the area of ​​the bladder and urinary tract of pregnant women.

This is what can trigger the proliferation of bacteria, making pregnant women more susceptible to UTIs.

Urinary tract infection symptoms during pregnancy

The characteristics of a urinary tract infection caused by the habit of holding back urine during pregnancy include:

• Fever
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain or burning sensation when urinating
• Urine is cloudy, bloody, or has a strong odor
• Urinating more often
• Pain in the pelvis, lower abdomen, and waist
• Pain during intercourse

About 2 to 10 percent of pregnant women develop urinary tract infections due to holding back urine during pregnancy. UTIs tend to recur frequently during pregnancy, even though you may not have held your pee as often during pregnancy.

Women who have had a previous UTI are more prone to get them again during pregnancy. The same is true for women who have given birth before.

Does urinary tract infection during pregnancy harm the baby?

If the urinary tract infection is not treated, it can lead to kidney infection. Kidney infections can cause premature babies and low birth weight babies. If a UTI is treated early, it will not harm your future baby.

Besides being a risk to the future baby, a UTI during pregnancy due to holding urine can also harm the mother. Reporting from Healthline, a pregnant woman who does not get treatment can experience an undiagnosed UTI called pyelonephritis.

This condition can be a life threatening disease, for both mother and baby. This can spread to the kidneys and cause permanent damage.

Tips to avoid urinary tract infections due to holding urine during pregnancy

To prevent urinary tract infections, one effective way is not to hold urine during pregnancy. Make a schedule for going to the toilet, for example, every two to three hours.

Too often holding urine during pregnancy, can gradually weaken the pelvic floor muscles in the long run.

In addition, there are several things you can do to avoid UTIs due to holding urine during pregnancy, including:

• Avoid drinking coffee, tea, alcohol or carbonated drinks such as soda because these types of drinks will make you urinate more frequently.
• Take vitamin C, beta carotene, and zinc to fight infection.
• When you urinate, empty the bladder completely.
• Clean the intimate organs with the washing direction from front to back, not the other way around.
• Avoid intercourse while doing treatment for UTIs.
• Choose underwear in cotton and that is not too tight, and change your underwear as often as possible.

In essence, get rid of the feeling of laziness that surrounds and keep in mind that the risks of holding back pee while pregnant far outweigh the benefits.

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