Question: What causes cloudy urine during pregnancy?
Answer: Cloudy urine is a symptom faced by many woman when they are pregnant.
Cloudy Urine in Pregnant Women
Many times pregnant woman complain of passing cloudy urine early in the morning.
In general urine can be of many colors, it can be clear white to dark yellow or amber color. The color in a normal individual varies due to the concentration of the urine; less water consumption will result in darker shade of urine.
Cloudy urine can be normal during pregnancy if it occurs once in a while, without any urinary symptoms like frequent urination, burning urine or pain while urinating.
But if pregnant woman passes cloudy urine regularly, it may be a matter of concern, and detail investigation in such cases becomes imperative.
Causes of Dark Cloudy Urine In Pregnancy
- Dehydration: Vomiting during pregnancy can significantly dehydrate the body. Depletion of water from the body reduces the urine output, concurrently causing concentrated urine. The color of the urine in such cases looks cloudier.
- Phosphate diet during pregnancy: In pregnancy woman may consume more amount of milk which is high in phosphate, or eat large meal containing beet and asparagus in their food preparations. Phosphate crystals get precipitated from this food preparations causing cloudy urine.
- Proteinuria during pregnancy: Excessive depletion of protein in urine can cause cloudy urine; this may be present in second and third trimester of pregnancy. Hypertension and proteinuria can be a serious problem for a pregnant woman.
- Urinary tract infection in pregnancy can also give rise to cloudy urine. Frequency, burning urine are other symptoms of urinary tract infection.
- Gonorrhea: this is a sexually transmitted disease, bacterial concentration in urine cause the urine look cloudy. Burning and pain during urination is always present while urinating.