In a nonpregnant woman, symptoms of both bladder and kidney infections can be sudden and painful. Symptoms such as urgency, frequency, pain, fever, and chills are the by-product of the body fighting off infection or disease. These bacteria thrive in the glucose and protein-rich environment of warm urine. These organisms can be transmitted to the urethra by simple common things such as wiping your bottom from back to front after going to the bathroom or having sexual intercourse. Often, the greatest concern with infections of the genital tract and urinary tract during pregnancy is the risk for preterm labor.
Labor is considered preterm if it occurs prior to the thirty-seventh week of pregnancy.
Medical studies that have researched UTIs and preterm labor are inconsistent and controversial because they have failed to show a direct link between the two. However, the risk of a UTI progressing toward a kidney infection is quite significant, and preterm labor has been shown to be highly correlated with kidney infection in the pregnant woman. The risk for the pregnancy is that you can begin having contractions as the kidney infection worsens, which can result in early cervical dilation, the defining characteristic of labor. Your baby, then, is at risk for all the problems associated with a preterm birth. While still in your uterus, however, your baby can show signs that the kidney infection and fever is affecting her, too.