site.btaLiver Transplant Patient Gives Birth in Bulgaria's First Such Case

A 29-year-old woman who had a liver transplant two years ago, gave birth to a healthy baby girl just before Christmas of 2023. It is the first such case in Bulgaria and was reported Friday by the Military Medical Academy (MMA), where the woman had the transplant surgery, and the Maichin Dom maternity hospital, where she had her pregrancy monitored.

It was the first pregnancy for the woman, who is identified as P. I.. The girl, Raya, was born in a natural childbirth.

The woman was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver condition at the age of 13. In 2019 she went into a hepatic coma and was put on a waiting list for liver transplant. “On the waiting list was also an infant and we opted for a split liver transplantation, in which the doctors split the donated organ in two,” explained Prof. Nikolai Vladov, head of the liver surgery and transplant clinic with the Military Medical Academy.

It was performed in 2021 and was the first such transplantation for MMA. “It was a success and the patient recovered quickly,” said Prof. Vladov. 

Two years later, the woman spoke to her doctors pre-conception and had a green light from them. Everything went smoothly during the pregnancy and there were no complications. 

“The pregnancy with transplant patients is always a major challenge for gynecologists and obstetricians because these women take immunosuppressors all their lives,” said Prof. Ivan Kostov of Maichin Dom, who monitored the pregnancy. There is a big risk of preeclampsia and other life-threatening complications where the liver plays a role, he explained.

The hospital told BTA that the case called for a multidisciplinary approach and cooperation between the doctors of the two hospitals.

Now the mother and baby are at home and feeling well.