What to do if You Get Kidney Stones During Your Pregnancy

Getting kidney stones during pregnancy is unfortunately more likely for women than getting them when they're not pregnant. A variety of changes with vitamins and minerals are happening in the body when you're pregnant, and these changes can cause the formation of kidney stones. There is also some speculation that later in the pregnancy, the size and position of the uterus can also restrict urine flow from the kidneys to the bladder, which makes it more difficult for for the kidneys to be able to eliminate waste build up effectively.

Women's bodies also tend to handle calcium less effectively during pregnancy, and this could cause the onset of kidney stones. Bladder or urinary tract infections also tend to be more common in pregnant women, and these too can cause kidney stones to develop.

One more thing that could be a contributing factor with women getting kidney stones during pregnancy, is lack of fluids. Your body needs much more water than normal when you're pregnant, and allowing it to get dehydrated can cause kidney stones to develop. This is one of the reasons your doctor advises you to get plenty of fluids.

Unfortunately some women are prone to getting chronic kidney stones when they're pregnant. Anyone - pregnant or not - has a higher risk of getting kidney stones again once they've had them the first time. For pregnant women though, the ordeal of having kidney stones with pregnancy is extremely painful and frightening. And it often lasts for months.

When large kidney stones develop, they're accompanied by extreme pain. Some people equate the level of pain to being worse than childbirth or heart attacks. The pain generally starts just below your ribs on your back, and travels around the side into the pelvis and groin area. Pregnant women who experience this pain the first time think they're going into early labor.