UTI's in pregnancy

[kj1]

I had my booking in appointment three weeks ago and received my blood/urine test results in the post the following week along with a letter that read that all my results had come back normal and no further action was required.

Yesterday, I received a call from my midwife who was checking in to see if I had booked in to see my Dr for the antibiotics prescription for my UTI. I told her I hadn't been told of any urine infection and she said that an accompanying letter had been sent out along with my results. I told her the accompanying letter I had received had told me that all my results were normal, so she emailed over a copy of what she had sent. The cover letter was different to the one I had received in the post, but both bore my name and my NHS number which is slightly confusing...

The thing is, I have no symptoms of a UTI at all. I have had infections in the past and they are so severe that I'm straight in to see the Dr, so I think I would know if I had an infection. I don't really want to be taking antibiotics unnecessarily as I find they always end up giving me thrush which isn't great during pregnancy...is it normal to have a UTI and not know you have it? Are they dangerous to the baby? I'm finding this whole situation a little odd.

 

[WinterWolf]

Last month I went to get my kidneys looked at (I have 2 extra, so they need checking on every so often), and got told I had a pretty nasty UTI. Couldn't tell at all, as I had zero symptoms. So weird.

I've never been pregnant with a UTI but I imagine if your doc knows you're pregnant and has given you antibiotics they think the benefits outweigh the risks. I wouldn't want any kind of infection in my body if I was pregnant.

 

[MoominGirl]

It is definitely possible to have a UTI without symptoms. I had a kidney stone recently and turned out I had a UTI as well. I had no urinary symptoms at all and even the doctors weren't sure but gave me antibiotics just in case.

The fact you've got a letter with results that are totally different from your midwife would bother me though. If I had a UTI I would definitely want it treated but I wouldn't want to be taking antibiotics if there was never an infection in the first place. Could you do another sample and ask them to dip it for you?

 

[kj1]

I think I probably will MoominGirl as it seems odd to me. I'm actually quite concerned that I didn't receive the letter earlier - this was my first dealing with the midwife team after my booking in appointment so it doesn't really fill me with trust for the coming 7 months!!!

Weirdly, I was rushed into A&E last summer with acute pain (they suspected ectopic pregnancy at first) and they found high levels of protein in my urine which indicated a strong infection somewhere. All fine with my ovaries and my womb so they then assumed acute appendicitis, but the protein levels were still high after the operation which was annoying as all hell as the key hole surgery left me in so much pain and completely bed bound for a month for absolutely no reason whatsoever in the end. If my urine is still showing a strong infection there must be a problem elsewhere in my body, I just don't understand why in this day and age this is so hard to diagnose? To add further complications, I have just moved house and in the process of moving my GP surgery closer to where I live now - I couldn't get an appointment today and they are now obviously closed for the next 4 days due to Easter bank holiday! Grrr.

Fingers crossed this doesn't have any effect baby...

 

[MoominGirl]

I'd be feeling the same. If you actually have an infection then it definitely needs treating and you should have been told much sooner than this. It sounds like you're prone to UTIs so it's a bit worrying if the first letter was wrong. Could you speak to out of hours? 4 days is a long time to wait if you do have an infection.

 

[MrsBunny]

I'd agree go out of hours - I've been to a walk in centre several times with utis (admittedly with major symptom) because my previous gp was rubbish and would always be so booked up, you could only get an appt for two weeks after you called. It's important not to delay treatment if you do have an infection, and your mw error may have already caused a delay for you.
xx

 

[Shanivy]

Untreated UTI can lead to a kidney infection which is more worrying when pregnant as it can be very serious. I agree with moomingirl Id ask for another test. It's strange to have two separate results, so I get how you'd not know which to trust. I've had a UTI and not known it in pregnancy though. xx

 

[kj1]

Thanks guys, called out of hours and I have a prescription ready to pick up. Slightly annoying not knowing which results are correct but better safe than sorry x