For a long time many of us have been performing routine dip urine tests on every prenatal visit. It would be interesting to see, if all these dipsticks were lined up, how far they would stretch, possibly across Canada!

The Choosing Wisely section of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently released their top 10 recommendations and among them, was a recommendation for urine testing:

"Don’t perform routine urinalysis (protein, glucose) at every antenatal visit (in low risk normotensive women)."

Routine urinalysis (for glucose and protein) in low-risk pregnancies is not recommended. For screening of healthy pregnant women, urinalysis for glucose to assess the risk of developing gestational diabetes is not recommended due to low sensitivity. For assessing the potential development of preeclampsia in pregnant women, routine urine dipstick or urinalysis are not recommended as the test for albumin levels is unreliable. Do not rely on proteinuria to screen for gestational hypertension; periodically check the blood pressure.

Check out our Quick Links section for the full list of OBGyn recommendations and references for urine testing.