At our Pediatric Urology services, Dr Singal helps parents understand about kidney diseases in their yet to be born kids and helps them plan out the arrival of the little one in a fully prepared way. This is done via detailed sessions of Antenatal Counseling.

It can be a very stressful and trying time for the parents when they learn that their unborn child has a Kidney abnormality. Though, a lot of these anomalies may be clinically insignificant requiring nothing more than observation after birth, some of the anomalies are indeed serious mandating a regular checkup before birth and immediate intervention after birth.

A proper counseling session ensures that everybody is on the same page and is motivated as a part of the team to tackle any issues that might arise. A detailed individualized plan is drawn up for each baby and given to the families and communicated to the Gynecologist/ Obstetrician involved. A pediatrician for post natal care for general well being of the baby is also informed about the condition.

What does Antenatal Diagnosis mean?

Antenatal diagnosis or diagnosis of disorders while the baby is still in mother’s womb is the cutting edge of medical science. The once opaque womb has been rendered transparent due to free availability of high resolution ultrasound. Two decades back pediatricians and pediatric surgeons used to get frustrated when they used to see a baby with a severe congenital malformation. They used to feel that “I wish I was there earlier”. But now a large number of these anomalies are diagnosed before the baby is born.

Ultrasound typically can pick up structural abnormalities in the developing babies especially after 16 weeks once the miniature organs are in place. As expected, the specificity is more as the baby grows bigger. This has generated a whole new group of diseases- “Antenatally diagnosed disorders” or we call them "Unborn Patients"

Kidney abnormalities are one of the most common antenatal disorders, found in approximately 1% of all fetuses but the good part is that in up to 70% of them it may represent transient changes in form of slight swelling which goes away by itself either before or after birth.

The major groups of anomalies seen in unborn babies are kidney abnormalities (swelling, absent kidney), hydrocephalus (excessive brain fluid leading to pressure damage on brain), cardiac anomalies, neural tube defects, certain chromosomal disorders, lung anomalies, tumors and cysts in belly.

Definition of Antenatal Hydronephrosis

Antenatal hydronephrosis refers to fluid-filled enlargement of the kidney detected before birth in the fetus by ultrasound studies. Hydronephrosis can be detected as early as the 15 weeks of pregnancy. In most instances this diagnosis will not change obstetric care, but will require careful follow-up and evaluation after birth and in some cases surgery during infancy and childhood.

What causes antenatal hydronephrosis?

Possible causes of antenatal hydronephrosis include: