Perinatal Outcomes in Women with Chronic Kidney Diseases

To assess maternal and neonatal outcomes in women with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at a referral center for high-risk pregnancy.

A retrospective cohort of pregnant women with CKD was followed at the Women's Hospital of Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, between 2012 and 2020. Variables related to disease etiology, treatment duration, sociodemographic variables, lifestyle, other associated diseases, obstetric history, and perinatal outcomes were assessed. The causes of CKD were grouped into 10 subgroups. Subsequently, we divided the sample according to gestational age at childbirth, as preterm and term births, comparing maternal and neonatal outcomes, and baseline characteristics as well as outcomes among such groups.

A total of 84 pregnancies were included, in 67 women with CKD. Among them, six pregnancies evolved to fetal death, five to miscarriage, and one was a twin pregnancy. We further analyzed 72 single pregnancies with live births; the mean gestational age at birth was 35 weeks and 3 days, with a mean birth weight of 2,444 g. Around half of the sample (51.39%) presented previous hypertension, and 27.7% developed preeclampsia. Among the preterm births, we observed a higher frequency of hypertensive syndromes, longer maternal intensive care unit (ICU) stay in the postpartum period, higher incidence of admission to the neonatal ICU, higher neonatal death, lower 5-minute Apgar score, and lower birth weight.

This study demonstrates increased adverse outcomes among pregnancies complicated by CKD and expands the knowledge on obstetric care among such women in an attempt to reduce maternal risks and identify factors related to prematurity in this population.