A look back at 12 women who developed hernias while pregnant lends support to a "watchful waiting" management strategy during pregnancy, followed by hernia repair after delivery.
Hernia repair after delivery "provides similar results to the non-pregnant population," report Dr. Celia M. Divino and colleagues from the department of surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.
The course of hernias in pregnancy, the effect of hernias on delivery, and the timing of hernia repair have not been established, the research team notes.
Among the 12 women with hernias occurring during pregnancy that were evaluated by Divino's team, hernia repair operations were performed four to 52 weeks after delivery (the average was 22 weeks post-delivery) by the same surgeon.
In all 12 women, hernias were safely managed non-operatively during pregnancy.
"Importantly," Divino and colleagues report, all of the women had uncomplicated deliveries; none needed to be sent to hospital or required emergency hernia repair.
There were also no complications around the time of hernia repair or during post-repair follow up lasting 17 months. None of the women experienced a hernia recurrence.
Four women had subsequent uncomplicated pregnancies.
These study shows that women who develop hernias during pregnancy can, for the most part, safely defer hernia repair until after delivery.