The word cholestasis is probably not part of your pregnancy vocabulary. This rather rare disease affects only one in 1000 pregnant women, but it deserves to be known to everyone since it can put the life of an unborn baby in danger.
What is it?
A dysfunction in the secretion of bilirubin by the liver which generally occurs during the 2nd and more often the 3rd trimester, causing the liver of the affected woman to no longer be able to process bile correctly. This causes an increase in bile acids in the blood which is harmful to the baby.
What are the symptoms?
Itching mainly on the hands and feet, but also sometimes on all parts of the body. Although unpleasant, the itching is harmless for the mother, but it is rather for the baby that the consequences can be serious. For the latter, the main complications are prematurity, neonatal respiratory distress and fetal death in utero, but it remains rare if the woman is followed up as soon as possible.
EnIf in doubt, consult your doctor who will prescribe a blood test to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of cholestasis.
What to do during a diagnosis?
If you have been diagnosed with cholestasis, you will have closer medical follow-ups, regular blood tests and more monitoring of the baby's heart.
Since cholestasis poses a danger to the fetus only from the 37th week, the delivery will be induced no later than this date in order to avoid complications for the baby. Sometimes doctors recommend induction even if the baby is not yet full term if blood tests and heart monitoring dictate it.
Doctors are still unclear about the exact causes of cholestasis, but heredity and genetics may have a role to play. The risk of recurrence during a second or third pregnancy is quite high (between 45% and 90%) and cholestasis tends to occur earlier during subsequent pregnancies.
The story of Marie-Chantal
Marie-Chantal wanted to share her personal experience so that more women know about cholestasis and can detect it if they experience the symptoms.
During her first pregnancy, Marie-Chantal began to have itchy hands and feet around the 37th week. Not knowing about cholestasis or its symptoms, she was not at all alarmed.
At 38 weeks, the itching became so intense that she couldn'tslept more at night. “I realized something was wrong. I phoned the hospital where I was giving birth and the nurse asked me to come to the maternity ward right away when I mentioned my tingling in my hands and feet. It was then that the diagnosis of cholestasis came in and they decided to induce labor. Fortunately, baby was fine.
During her second pregnancy, the tingling came earlier from the 26th week. “I recognized the symptoms straight away and so I was prescribed medication throughout my pregnancy. »
I had to go to the hospital two to three times a week for non-stress tests, blood tests and growth ultrasounds. In normal times, it's already very demanding, but in times of pandemic, it was even more intense, remembers Marie-Chantal.
“I was finally triggered at 36 weeks and 3 days when the baby was almost full term as a he alth precaution. » Mom and baby are doing well!
