Apart from the measurement of blood pressure, dipstick analysis of urine for protein is the most commonly performed antenatal screening test. The presence of proteinuria is seen as a possible indication of many complications in pregnancy, from urinary tract infection to chronic renal disease and it remains central to the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in a hypertensive pregnancy. It has both diagnostic and prognostic implications when it is found though the optimal methods for detection and quantification in primary and secondary care remain controversial.