A wee issue with my newborn
Dear Dr Mitchell,
I realised about four days after birth that my baby was not peeing at all. I previously assumed she was passing urine, when in fact it was just stool. When the paediatrician asked in the hospital if she had urinated I said yes, because I assumed that I saw pee and stool. However, when I brought her home, I realised that there were no wet diapers. Upon examining her, I saw this yellow, bag-like thing protruding from her vagina/bladder area, and I used a Q-tip to pull it out, and a lot of urine and other stuff came out. She also immediately peed when I pulled it out. I then realised that for the whole time, almost a week, my baby’s urine wasn’t exiting. Could this have harmed her? She has been urinating OK since then.
The problem that your baby experienced with a delayed emptying of the urine from the vagina will not cause any long-term problem. The problem was most likely caused by a mucus plug covering the vaginal entrance and the urethra (opening or entrance to the bladder), thus preventing the urine from being expelled. The baby was definitely producing urine and this was prevented from being expelled because of this membrane or plug.
In this situation a urinary tract infection is a possible complication of this failure to empty completely, but the fact that the baby continued to pass urine without any problem is completely reassuring that there is no obstruction to be concerned about.
It is important to clean the vagina properly at each diaper change and ensure that there is no accumulation of secretions from urine or stool between the labial folds of the vagina since this can be a source of infection. It is also important to have the baby properly examined by the paediatrician to establish if the entrance to the vagina is actually open and not sealed off by membrane. It will also be reassuring to have your paediatrician order a urine culture on the baby to rule out an infection and do an abdominopelvic ultrasound to confirm that the kidneys, bladder, uterus and ovaries are normal.
It is good to establish these factors early so you can be guided early in the event that the baby needs any further investigation or treatment.
Consult your paediatrician who will advise you further.
Best regards.
Dr Sharmaine Mitchell is an obstetrician and gynaecologist. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com; write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or fax to 876-968-2025. All responses are published. Dr Mitchell cannot provide personal responses.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only, and must not be relied upon as an alternative to medical advice or treatment from your own doctor.
