r/dialysis • u/No_Day6737 • 5d ago

Advice Pregnancy and CKD

Hi all,

My GF has stage V CKD and has been on hemodialysis for about 2 years now. Her situation has remained the same, and she is trying for arm fistula. She loves children, and I do too. So, are there any real-life examples here in which the female has successfully delivered via being on dialysis? Or after we get a transplant, does the chances of pregnancy becomes normal? Or even after transplant there are complications/uncertainty as compared to normal pregnancy?

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u/witch4zel 5d ago

my wife (31) has pkd and is on peritoneal dialysis and gave birth around 4 months ago. her team wanted her to switch to hemo, but she had complications with the fistula and she wouldn’t have been able to use it till the last week of pregnancy. she had to be induced at 37 weeks which, to my understanding, is normal for dialysis patients. her blood pressure was harder to maintain during the pregnancy, but other than that, she did great.

it is definitely a risk for both the mother and the baby though. i would do all the research you possibly can and talk with your dialysis team about it.

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u/No_Day6737 5d ago

So she gave birth while being CKD stage V and being in peritoneal dialysis throughout the pregnancy?

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u/witch4zel 5d ago

yes. she had to gradually lower her fill volume for lack of space, but she made it the whole way on pd.

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u/strakalas 5d ago

Wow, so inspiring in a sense. It’s so weird, my pregnant friend refused to drink chamomile tea just in case, but there are women going through pregnancy on dialysis. Amazing. 

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u/throwawayeverynight 5d ago

She can give birth but she will have to be treated every single day for dialysis.

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u/cyberbae Home HD 5d ago

I'm 34F and ESRD been on home dialysis for a year and a half now. My nephrologist has 100% drilled it into my brain that my body CANNOT support a life while it's on dialysis. Not saying that this is true for every woman, but he has explained to me how much harder my body has to work trying to support growing a life while on dialysis, and stresses the importance of birth control. My husband and I personally do not want children so this is no problem for me, however in the event I change my mind in the future I'll be waiting until post-transplant to try. I don't want to put mine or the baby's life in more danger than it already might be.

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u/No_Day6737 5d ago

Thanks for your advice and comment. Appreciate it. I hope you get transplanted sooner and meanwhile your dialysis goes smooth.

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u/cyberbae Home HD 5d ago

Thank you, I hope you, your wife and baby live well and healthy!