There are three main effects of CKD on pregnancy.

CKD

There are three main effects of CKD on pregnancy.

1. Developing high blood pressure. This can happen at any stage of the pregnancy and is a consequence of CKD.

2. Developing pre-eclampsia. This is an illness that happens in the second half of pregnancy. It causes high blood pressure, as well as protein in the urine. It is usually mild but can be severe. Once it has started it will usually worsen until the baby is delivered. CKD increases the risk of pre-eclampsia.

The symptoms may include bad headaches that do not go away, blurred vision or seeing flashing lights or spots before the eyes. There may be swelling of the hands, feet or face. Symptoms from liver swelling can cause a bad pain just below the ribs, especially on the right side .

In the antenatal clinic, blood pressure measurements and testing the urine for protein are done routinely.  This helps pick up pre-eclampsia early.  However, if a woman already has protein in the urine and high blood pressure because of kidney disease it is sometimes difficult to distinguish this from pre-eclampsia.

3. Deterioration of kidney function. This is rather unpredictable but in general the better the kidney function at the beginning of the pregnancy, the less likely it is to decline later. Women with more protein in their urine at the beginning of pregnancy are at increased risk of declining kidney function later.

Chronic kidney disease may seem to have come on suddenly. But it has been happening bit by bit for many years as a result of damage to your kidneys.

Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. If nephrons are damaged, they stop working. For a while, healthy nephrons can take on the extra work. But if the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the nephrons that are left cannot filter your blood well enough to keep you healthy.

One way to measure how well your kidneys are working is to figure out your glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR is usually calculated using results from your blood creatinine (say "kree-AT-uh-neen") test. Then the stage of kidney disease is figured out using the GFR. There are five stages of kidney disease, from kidney damage with normal GFR to kidney failure.

What can be done to protect the mother?

Good antenatal care from the earliest stages of pregnancy improves outcomes generally. This is particularly true for women with CKD. Planning for pregnancy allows women with CKD to get pregnant at the right time, while on the right medications and in the best possible health. To achieve this all women with significant CKD should receive pre-pregnancy advice so that they can assess the potential risk and to ensure that everything is in place to minimise it.

These are the key things to think about before getting pregnant:

When should a woman with CKD get pregnant?

This depends on the nature of the kidney disease. In general if a woman’s kidney function is likely to get worse over time it is better to plan the pregnancy sooner rather than later while function is still good. On the other hand, for a kidney disease that flares up and then settles down, such as Lupus nephritis, it is better to wait until the flare has settled for at least 6 months

Other factors to take into account are a woman’s age and fertility. They may have had drugs in the past to treat a kidney condition that can impair fertility (e.g. cyclophosphamide). If so they may need to take advice on whether this is an additional problem.

Should she get pregnant at all?

There are very few women these days who are advised not to get pregnant. Even then it is always up to the woman (and her partner) whether to take the risk. It is much better to be forewarned of the possible problems and to discuss these in advance.

Will she need extra medicines when she’s pregnant?

Women trying to get pregnant should start taking the vitamin folic acid to reduce the chance of their baby having spina bifida, an abnormality of the spinal cord. The normal dose of folic acid is 400ug per day and can be bought over the counter. However, if the folate level is low or a patient is on the drug azathioprine which affects the way folic acid works, the dose of 5mg daily may be prescribed. No other over the counter vitamins are required unless specifically advised by a doctor or midwife. All pregnant patients should avoid additional supplements of vitamin A. If vitamin D levels are low GPs will advise correction with high dose prescribed vitamin D (also known as cholecalciferol).

Women with kidney diseases are at higher risk of pre-eclampsia. Aspirin lowers the risk of pre eclampsia, and women with CKD are usually offered a low dose aspirin (75mg once daily) throughout pregnancy unless there are specific reasons not to take it e.g  they are allergic to aspirin.

Pregnant women with a high level of protein in their urine have an increased risk of developing blood clots (thrombosis). This can be reduced by small daily injections of low molecular weight heparin. Heparin reduces the way the blood clots.

Both pregnancy and CKD can cause a low blood count (anaemia). When combined, anaemia can be more of a problem. Iron tablets or injections may be used and some women need to take the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) as  a weekly or monthly injection to overcome the anaemia. Blood transfusions are usually avoided in pregnancy

Pregnancy alters the control of sugar (glucose) in the body. This may be worse for patients on steroids (e.g. prednisolone), those from an Asian or African background, or who are overweight. Patients may develop a condition called gestational diabetes (diabetes caused by pregnancy) and require treatment with insulin.

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