During pregnancy, a woman’s body experiences many remarkable changes in terms of the structure and function of the urinary tract. As blood volume expands, there is also an accompanied increase in the glomerular filtration rate and urinary output. As an effect of progesterone, the ureters dilate or relax. Progesterone and other hormones such as estrogen may also lead to a decreased resistance of the urinary tract to invading pathogens.
This along with an increase in the volume of the urinary tract results in urinary stasis, which, in turn, predisposes women to urinary tract infection and pyelonephritis. At the beginning of the 6th week of pregnancy, most especially in 22nd to the 24th week, approximately 90% of pregnant women develop dilatation of the ureters which will linger until the delivery of the baby. The subsequent increase in bladder volume and decrease in bladder tone is a major factor in causing urinary stasis. The increase in plasma volume also decreases urine concentration.
Research was done by examining available data and patient records of pregnant women in a selected clinic. These women were provisioned with a sterile specimen bottle and instructed verbally on how to obtain a clean-voided midstream urine for specimen. These were analyzed by the resident laboratory technician. The presence of 10 or more leukocytes per high power field was considered significant and a colony count of > 100,000 colonies of a single isolate was used as the criterion for significant bacteriuria.
Data gathered from these sources were as follows: 1. What are the number of pregnant women who exhibits signs of Urinary Tract Infection 2. What is the mean age of pregnant women affected by Urinary Tract Infection 3. What is the mean gravity of pregnant women with Urinary Tract Infection 4. What is the average parity of women with Urinary Tract Infection 5. What is the average age of gestation of women with Urinary Tract Infection Risk factors: Urinary tract infections are 14 more times frequent in females than in males due to several reasons.
Firstly, the urethra in women is shorter which allows bacteria easier access. Second, the lower part of the urethra is frequently contaminated due its near location to the vagina and rectum where there are many pathogens. Third, women do not completely empty their bladder compared to men and lastly, bacteria may enter the bladder during intercourse. Among pregnant women, the factors that contribute to the frequency of bacteriuria include multiparity, age, history of urinary tract infection, socio-economic status and age of gestation.
Multiparity is associated with bacteriuria in pregnancy. It has been recognized to cause a two-fold increase in the rate of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women brought about by the profound physiologic changes that affect the urinary tract during pregnancy and as such, has a significant impact on the occurrence of urinary tract infection. These changes, however, may vary and is most likely to occur to women either on their first pregnancy or those who had became pregnant in rapid succession.
According to Nicolle4, the prevalence of bacteriuria has also been shown to increase with maternal age. This might be due to the frequency of co-morbid conditions that are associated with a neurogenic bladder and an increase in the residual urine and urinary reflux although in this study, age has no obvious and visible impact on the prevalence of urinary tract infection among pregnant women. Another risk factor is previous history of urinary tract infection with an 18. 9% prevalence of bacteriuria.