Management of pregnancy in women undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

A survey in which there were responses from dialysis units caring for approximately 38% of women aged 14-44 receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in the United States revealed a conception rate of 0.2% per year. A total of 44 pregnancies were identified in women treated with peritoneal dialysis at some time during their pregnancies. Two thirds of pregnancies were complicated by hypertension and one third by severe hypertension. There was little difficulty with catheter placement during pregnancy, and peritonitis was an unusual complication, which did not result in fetal loss. Forty-eight percent of pregnancies resulted in surviving infants. All but one were premature and two thirds were small for gestational age.