Question: Hi,

I'm currently 30 weeks pregnant for the first time and so far the pregnancy has generally been pretty smooth running.

However, the one unpleasant symptom I have had is bladder pain. This started completely out of the blue one morning at 24 weeks. I though initially I must have a urinary tract infection because I would had a painful need to urinate very frequently. However, my urine was tested three times and came back clear each time. I was told that my pain and discomfort was just pressure from the baby. The symptoms did get a bit better in the following weeks but didn't go away. However, in the past week they have intensified again.

Symptoms are as follows:
Constant slightly painful tickling sensation in bladder even straight after emptying.
Sensation much worse when walking - especially walking downhill when every step produces a painful jolt.
Sudden very intense electric shock pains in bladder/urethra area - this has been happening a few times a day and I can't decide whether it coincides with baby's movements or not.

History wise I have no known bladder or gynecological problems. I have suffered from mild stress incontinence since I was a teenager (I'm now 33) but only when for instance I have had a very bad cold and been coughing a lot or I have done very repetitive jumping movements in aerobics classes. Because of this I was worried that my current symptoms might be related to a prolapse but both the GPs I saw examined me and said my pelvic floor strength felt fine. Having said that - on both occasions I was examined lying down and because my symptoms are worse when standing I later decided to feel my anterior vaginal wall when standing and it did feel as if there was something firm and organ - like only a couple of centimetres up the front wall. It's more that I can feel this firmness within the wall rather that feeling it within the vagina and I have no sensation of fullness.

The last thing that I wonder if worth mentioning is that the pain feels very much like a nerve pain if that makes sense. Since I was a child I always had a very strange stabbing sensation in my urethra area whenever I touched my belly button. This isn't the case at the moment but the type of pain was similar to that which I am experiencing now. Is there any possibility this may be some kind of nerve entrappment? I have also suffered what has felt like nerve like pain before pregnancy in the piriformus muscle and during pregnancy in the coccyx area. This was intense and very frequent but subsided around 22 weeks. This may be completely unrelated but thought I'd ask.

I'm sorry this is such a long post but I wanted to give as much info as possible. I have a GP appointment next week and am hoping I might be able to get a referral to a specialist as I don't get to see a consultant during my pregnancy otherwise as it is all midwife care in the UK unless the pregnancy is thought to be high risk.

I can put up with this sensation until my due date in January but the thing that is bothering me most is having no idea what is going on and whether or not this is something that will go away after pregnancy. My other concern is whether this problem might be further exacerbated by a vaginal birth and whether it would be a reason to have a cesarean (I doubt it but though I'd check).

Many thanks,
XXXX