Today is ICP Awareness Day. I had no idea what ICP even was, until my 6th pregnancy. ICP stands for Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy. It is an EXTREMELY dangerous condition that sharply increases the risk of stillbirth if the pregnancy goes past 37-38 weeks. The main symptom of ICP is severe itching. That was my first clue that there was something wrong. The itching is caused by a toxic level of bile acids in the liver, that then dumps into the bloodstream, and then crosses the placenta. The baby cannot filter the bile acids, and is basically poisoned to death. I began itching at 14 weeks pregnant with Luke. All my care providers seemed to think I was insane, since my bloodwork was normal. No one wanted to continue doing draws, even though the itching was getting worse. I saw a couple of OBs, midwives, a dermatologist, and even a GI doctor. So I drew my own labs every single week, because I knew something wasnt right. I also started having severe right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain (my liver). Labs were still normal. In fact, my labs were 100% normal until I hit 37 weeks. At which point, they spiked. I spoke with my midwives, and we made a mutual decision to induce labor, so we could avoid losing Luke. I was lucky. But many women, and many babies, are not. Many care providers dont even know about cholestasis, or are uneducated about its danger. I encourage you to please share this status... If it gets to one mom who is itching... It might save the life of a baby. Www.icpcare.org
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 05:05:45 +0000
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