Unwanted pregnancy among Chinese renal transplant recipients

ABSTRACT

Objectives To investigate the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies among renal transplant recipients and to identify major contributing factors.

Methods A total of 647 women of childbearing age who had received a renal transplant at one of the five participating hospitals in China were enrolled in the study and administered a questionnaire that collected information on their reproductive health, pregnancies, and awareness and use of contraceptive methods.

Results Of the 647 eligible patients, 98 (15%) reported 133 unwanted pregnancies post-transplantation. In this group (n = 98), despite an awareness of the available contraceptive measures, 56% had not applied any method of contraception, while 20% had relied on the rhythm method, and in only 12% of the cases male condoms had been used. The most common reason for not using contraception was a failure to realise that their reproductive function had been restored to normal soon after transplantation (19%).

Conclusion In female renal transplant recipients, unprotected sex combined with incorrect judgment about their own reproductive potential post-transplantation were the major causes of unwanted pregnancies. The latter could be avoided through counselling about the risk pregnancy entails and the implementation of appropriate contraceptive measures.

KEYWORDS:

• Renal transplantation
• Unwanted pregnancy
• Contraception

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Medical and Health Project (No. 2009A182) and Hangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project (No. 20090833B22).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.