MEDICAL FEAT: Shalini Pal and her baby girl after her birth on March 2. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Shalini Pal (named changed), 28, underwent a kidney transplant in 2004. She conceived last year. Doctors warned her of the complications, but she decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. Shalini gave birth to a girl on March 2.

Four years ago, Jamshedpur resident Saraswati Parekh (name changed), 36, underwent a kidney transplant at a Calcutta hospital. Two years on, she conceived and delivered a girl at the same hospital.

Patients in the child-bearing age-group suffering from irreversible renal failure can take heart from Shalini and Saraswati.

Shalini’s condition was a bit more complicated than the other woman’s.

“Since it was an unplanned pregnancy, some of the immunosuppressive and antihypertensive drugs that she had been taking since the transplant could be changed only after six to seven weeks of the pregnancy, when she visited our hospital. Ideally, they should have been changed before she conceived,” said Arup Ratan Dutta, the chief nephrologist of Wockhardt Hospital and Kidney Institute, where the transplant was performed.

The Nagerbazar resident said doctors had explained to her the possible complications during the pregnancy. “But I summoned up all my courage, consulted my family and decided to go for it,” said Shalini.

Fortunately, there was no major complication and a Caesarean section was performed at the Institute of Laparoscopic Surgery, in Salt Lake. Shalini was discharged three days later. Both the mother and the child are doing fine.

Shalini’s was the second instance of a renal transplant patient giving birth to a child in Calcutta. The global figure stands at 12,000.

Back in 2004, Saraswati underwent a successful Caesarean section at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, three years after her kidney transplant.

“Pregnancy in kidney transplant patients can lead to complications because the transplanted kidney may affect the baby’s growth and the mother’s health,” said Sita Ramamurthipal, who had operated on Saraswati.

“It’s important to consult a doctor before planning a pregnancy. The patient’s blood pressure needs to be monitored and medicines have to be altered,” said Dutta.