How do kidney problems affect pregnancy?

During pregnancy, kidney diseases can be especially worrying due to the binary that represents the health of both the mother and the baby.

Although pregnancy itself does not cause them, it can be a trigger for some secondary conditions that affect the kidneys, such as preeclampsia or antiphospholipid syndrome.

These conditions can affect one or both kidneys and can occur at any stage of life, some at early ages and others at advanced ages.

Kidney diseases, according to nephrologist Hugo González Cárdenas, They can be triggered by a variety of factors external to the kidneys, such as immunological diseases, infections, heart problems, surgeries, trauma or infections.

It is important to identify any kidney disease in pregnant women and it is possible thanks to laboratory studies.

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“In this case, the main factor is knowing or knowing the normal physiology of the kidneys during pregnancy. A pregnant patient does not have the same laboratory values ​​as a healthy person without pregnancy.

“In the case of women, we see the functioning of the kidneys or the filtration of the kidneys with a study called Creatinine, where the normal is 0.8 to 1.2 in healthy people, but in a pregnant woman it should be equal or less than 0.6.

“A patient who is pregnant, when that creatine rises to 1, which would be normal for someone healthy, would no longer be normal in her, so identifying those details in the changes in renal physiology is the first piece of information and the other, well It is swelling or edema,” explains the nephrologist.

In late pregnancy, pregnant women generally tend to have swelling in their legs due to the increase in volume or weight of their uterus.

When there is kidney disease, this swelling is also accompanied by changes in urine and there may even be bleeding. When this happens, it is a warning sign of a kidney problem.

Treatments

“Once kidney disease is identified, the main thing is to maintain the health of the couple. It is very complicated to give treatment while the woman is pregnant because most of the treatments will affect the baby.

“In this case, the first thing is to remove all the medications that she may be taking that may affect the kidney.

“The other is to see what stage of pregnancy she is in. If she is in a very early stage of the first trimester, a more accurate diagnosis can be made by doing a biopsy of her kidneys when the pregnancy is very early.

“When the pregnancy passes week 20, it is very complicated to do a biopsy of your kidneys due to the risk that exists while you are pregnant,” explains González Cárdenas.

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Likewise, the doctor emphasizes the need to prioritize the health of the mother-child binomial.

During pregnancy, Medications that may affect the kidney should be avoided and, in case of complications, constant monitoring should be maintained to avoid further deterioration of kidney function.

After delivery, a variety of specific medications may be used depending on the patient’s diagnosis.

Necessary prenatal care

González Cárdenas ends with a call to pregnant women to attend their prenatal check-up appointments and submit to the recommended laboratory studies to ensure early detection of any anomalies.

Early detection, says the specialist, is important to prevent serious complications for both the mother and the baby during and after pregnancy.