Pregnancy following kidney transplantation

Following kidney transplantation, 20 women gave birth to 24 infants after the 28th gestational week. All babies were singletons, alive, and free from malformations. The mean weight was 2,595 g (range 1,420-3,200 g) and the mean gestational age was 37.8 weeks (range 32-40 weeks). The cesarean section rate was 75%. On dividing the patients into low- and high-risk groups, the rate of pre-eclampsia, prematurity, and intra-uterine growth retardation was 2-3 times as high in the high-risk as in the low-risk group. No patients experienced graft rejection during the pregnancy but, within 3 months after delivery, two rejection episodes occurred. Later, a further 5 patients experienced graft rejection. All infants developed normally. We conclude that pregnancy following renal transplantation generally has a normal outcome and that the function of the transplanted kidney is unaffected by the pregnancy.