Unwanted pregnancy among Chinese renal transplant recipients

To investigate the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies among renal transplant recipients and to identify major contributing factors.

A total of 647 women of childbearing age who had received a renal transplant at one of the five participating hospitals in China were enrolled in the study and administered a questionnaire that collected information on their reproductive health, pregnancies, and awareness and use of contraceptive methods.

Of the 647 eligible patients, 98 (15%) reported 133 unwanted pregnancies post-transplantation. In this group (n = 98), despite an awareness of the available contraceptive measures, 56% had not applied any method of contraception, while 20% had relied on the rhythm method, and in only 12% of the cases male condoms had been used. The most common reason for not using contraception was a failure to realise that their reproductive function had been restored to normal soon after transplantation (19%). CONCLUSION In female renal transplant recipients, unprotected sex combined with incorrect judgment about their own reproductive potential post-transplantation were the major causes of unwanted pregnancies. The latter could be avoided through counselling about the risk pregnancy entails and the implementation of appropriate contraceptive measures.