[Pregnancy after kidney transplantation]

Abstract

11 women gave birth to 13 live-born infants after a mean period of 39.6 months following transplantation, whereby one of these women had two successful pregnancies and one patient had a twin pregnancy. The highly premature twins, born after a complicated pregnancy with impaired renal graft function in the mother, died of respiratory insufficiency on the 13th day. All of these renal allograft recipients had to be delivered by caesarean section, either for nephrological or obstetric reasons. All graft with stable function prior to conception suffered no damage as a result of the pregnancy. In two women with already impaired function, pregnancy led to further deterioration and, eventually, graft loss. Because of the small numbers in this series no conclusions can be drawn with regard to the incidence of malformation of premature delivery. It is concluded that women with normal and stable renal graft function should be allowed to become pregnant. The risk for the graft as well as for the child does not seem to be increased under these circumstances. However, due to the complexity of the situation these patients should be cared for at specialized centres.