Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or high blood pressure is alarming enough, but when you’re carrying a child, they tend to become a more significant worry.
“If you have a UTI during pregnancy, there’s a chance your baby will get an infection when they’re born,” Dr. Joyce Estela Jerus, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Westlake Medical Center, says.
“To keep that from happening, you need to complete your UTI medication. Bear in mind that your obstetrician ensures that the antibiotics for UTI are safe for the baby. Also, you should take more water, less sweet drinks, and observe proper bathroom hygiene.”
Dr. Jerus adds that preterm labor is usually caused by an infection which includes a history of UTI or vaginal infection even if medications have been completed obstetrician first.
“If preterm labor happens to you, get examined immediately to determine what is causing it. Also, if you had histories of preterm labor in past pregnancies, and plans to get pregnant or are already pregnant, visit your trusted obstetrician at once or even before getting pregnant,” she says.
For pregnant women with hypertension, Dr. Jerus suggests adequate control of blood pressure levels to avoid a low birth weight or giving birth to a baby who’s smaller than expected. “Uncontrolled hypertension causes many complications and one of which is, it could cause the placenta to detach from the uterus which will lead to severe bleeding and may cause the baby not to survive if not detected and baby is immediately delivered from the womb,” she points out.
Controlling one’s blood pressure can also prevent convulsions, especially if the elevated protein is present in the urine. Dr. Jerus encourages those with difficulty controlling their hypertension to visit their obstetrician regularly so that they will be managed accordingly including urine examination every one or two weeks for elevated proteins.
If you’re having difficulty conceiving or want to learn more about pregnancy, you can visit
Westlake Medical Center. To get expert medical advice regularly, follow Westlake Medical Center at https://www.facebook.com/WestlakeMedCenterPH/ and https://www.tiktok.com/@wmctiktok.