Cancer and pregnancy

Cancer during pregnancy

A newly diagnosed cancer during pregnancy poses a different scenario that life could confront us with. While it may sound like a dead-end street, modern medicine offers quite a few options to combine pregnancy care with necessary cancer treatment. 

Nadezhda Hospital has successfully established itself over the years as a leading center for fertility sparing for women with cancer, as well as for the treatment of pregnant and postpartum women diagnosed with malignancies, or for the planning and execution of pregnancy for women in remission, who have already undergone treatment.

Remember that...

• Nadezhda Hospital is a national center for follow-up of pregnancies complicated with cancer and cancer therapy during pregnancy.
• It is still possible to conduct a chemotherapy with no risks for the pregnant woman and the fetus during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This practice is based on a large body of scientific evidence collected from serious clinical trials. Since 2021, the European Association for Medical Oncology has published clinical practice guidelines that validate these practices. It is still very rare In Bulgaria, unfortunately, that patients with a pregnancy complicated by cancer are referred for chemotherapy.
• The drugs used in the first stage of treatment (pre-operative chemotherapy) do not cross the placenta and do not harm the baby.

Pregnancy after cancer

As part of the “Keep Hope Alive” campaign 2022, Nadezhda Hospital provides free consultations with a reproductive specialist to women of reproductive age in remission, who want to carry out their plans for parenthood.

Consultations will be provided  after a request by email to mbal@nadezhda.bg submitted by November 30, 2022.

In this request, you should specify:

• Full names;
• Your age;
• Contact phone for callback;
• What was your cancer diagnosis;
• How long you have been in remission.

After processing your request, we will contact you proposing a hospital visit date and time. The consultations are not tied to the length of the “Keeping Hope Alive” campaign and can also be scheduled after 30 November.

On the day of your consultation you will need to bring with you:

• All medical records related to cancer and its treatment.
• A statement from your oncologist that you can proceed to carrying a pregnancy. If you do not have such a statement, or you are in need a second opinion, you can benefit from a free consultation with the team of the Medical Oncology Clinic at the Nadezhda Hospital. Consultations with an oncologist are available by appointment at the Registrar's Office, or through Nadezhda Hospital call center line: 0882 193 970.