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Studies showed that 50% of all lupus pregnancies are completely normal, 25% deliver normal babies prematurely, and there is a percentage of 25 which represents fetal loss due to spontaneous abortion or death of the baby.
However, lupus pregnancies are not easy, and they may be considered ‘high-risk’. Pregnant lupus patients should be supervised by obstetricians who are familiar with high risk pregnancies and there should be collaboration with woman’s primary physician. It is known that lupus nephritis before conception increases the chance of experiencing a lupus flare during pregnancy.
Many patients can experience new hair growth during pregnancy, and after delivery dramatic hair loss appears. This can be a symptom of lupus, but it can also happen to occur during a normal pregnancy. An important thing that must be done is to distinguish the symptoms of a lupus flare from the normal body changes that occur during pregnancy.
In 20% of lupus patients can appear the toxemia of pregnancy. It appears more often in women with kidney disease, in black women, in women with twins, in older women, in women with high blood pressure, and in women who smoke. If toxemia is not treated, the woman and the baby are in danger. It is known that most of the medications taken by lupus patients are safe to use during pregnancy. It was shown that 33% of lupus patients have antibodies that interfere with the function of the placenta.
These antibodies are known as the antiphospholipid antibodies, the lupus anticoagulant, or anti-cardiolipin antibodies. Studies revealed that about 50% of lupus pregnancies end premature, because of the complications that can appear. Premature babies may become anemic, may have difficulty breathing and may develop jaundice. In modern neonatal units, these problems can be easily treated, and even babies which had very little weight survived.
It was discovered that about 10% of women with anti-Ro antibodies will have a baby with a syndrome known as neonatal lupus. A transient rash, transient blood count abnormalities, and a special type of heart beat abnormality is specific to neonatal lupus. It is known that neonatal lupus is the only type of congenital abnormality found in children of mothers with lupus.
June 8th, 2011 at 6:03 am
I certainly think that pregnant women, especially those who have preexisting kidney disease should be careful and be more health conscious. They could not just harm their selves but their newborn baby, as well. This would push them to seek for OB doctors who are specializing for high-risk pregnancy. I guess modification of lifestyles should be promoted.