The urinary excretion of albumin in normal pregnancy

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Abstract
The urinary excreton of albumin was measured in a group of normal pregnant women at 14, 28 and 36 weeks gestation and 6 weeks postpartum. Using 2-h urine collections, the excretion rate was not found to increase during pregnancy or to differ from that in group of non-pregnant controls. The urinary albumin to creatinine concentration ratio was greater at all stages of pregnancy than in the non-pregnant controls and greater at 36 weeks than at 14 weeks gestation. Correcting for the observed changes in serum albumin and creatinine clearance produced evidence consistent with the hypothesis that mean glomerular permeability to albumin rises progressively during pregnancy. Reasons are given why the measurement of urinary albumin excretion may be a useful screening test in some pregnant women, and may also yield useful information on the effect of multiple pregnancies on renal function. One grand multipara was studied and found to have an increased excretion of albumin at each stage of pregnancy.