Low Platelettes

Has anybdoy gone thorugh their pregnancy with a low platlette count and deleviered naturally and when due? Did you have any intervention at all? if so what was it and what did your counts get down too

Hi india44,

I had a low platelet count during my first pregnancy. In my case, that meant the count got down to 100 k/microlitre of blood (normal range is 150-450). I was sent to a blood specialist who was happy for me to stay at the birth centre where I was booked in as long as my counts stayed above 80. In the end, I gave birth with no drugs, and initially refused the shot they give you to speed up third stage. Eventually I conceded to have the oxytocin shot after feeling a few gushes of blood. In the end they estimated that I lost about 450ml of blood, which is not far off from being classified as a hemorrhage. To put that in context though, I lost more blood at the birth of my second child, when there was no concern about low platelets and I had an oxytocin drip for most of the labour and for several hours afterwards.

For what it's worth, I've now found out that my typical non-pregnant counts are in the low 150s, so right at the bottom end of normal.

What kind of counts have you had?

Good luck to you,
Courtney

Thanx for your response counrtney. Ihave actualy had ITP for over 9 years now and have a count of 300 before ( had to be manually counted becasue not enough for the mahcine) I have had steroids, intragram, splenectomy, dapsone, mabthera etc etc. I had been in remission since Dec 2005 after the mabthera treatment ( a cancer drug) Currently my counts is sitting a 102,000 which at any other time I woudl e more than happy with but I know by my bruising it wil be lower this week Doc doesnt want it below 70,000 heamo team says 60,000 and then they will prob start steroids. I am still trying to find info on peeps who have been realy low like under 30,000 when delivering.
They will order in blood, platlettes and intragram just in case I need a ceaser but riled out epidurla which is fine by me as I never wanted to have one.
This is my first baby ( second pregnancy) and I am hoping the counts will rise when bub is born ad I dont want to have to go thorugh all that treatment again.
THanx again for responding

Hi India44,

I had no idea your counts were that low. My aunt also had very low platelet counts for a while (discovered when she woke up with unexplained bruises) and it sounded very scary. It sounds like you've been through it all. I hope your numbers stay up and everything goes smoothly. Looking on the bright side, the doctors will be less likely to suggest an unnecessary caesar.

I really hope your blood cooperates, that your labour goes smoothly, and that you bounce back after the birth.

Courtney

Hi india44,

I just read through my first response again. I hope you don't think I was being condescending. I had no idea what thrombocytopaenia was until about 6 months into my first pregnancy, so I assumed you had developed it during pregnancy.

Once again, I wish you all the luck in the world.

Courtney

Courtney thankyou so much for you replies none of which were in anyway condescending. I am just so appreciative to hear from anyone who has had any experiecne with this. I dont usualy go into all of my history either instead just putting feelers out. I see my Doc again on wed for a count and then we shall see how we go.
Thankyou for your good wishes :)

hi india 44 just scaning through some of your post/replys and saw that you had to have intragam and steroids during pregnancy due to you having ITP (Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura- right?) i was just curious as to how you handled that and if there were any major side affects that you or your bub experienced. Im asking because although i dont have ITP if i get pregnant my bub will have a 80-90% chance of having NAIT or FAMITP (Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia/ feto-maternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia) My DS now 7 months was born with this and his platlette count was 2000- extremely low now in the 200,000, NAIT will correct itself after bub starts to produce their own platlettes, but DS had a bleed in the brain while stil inutero and now has a porencephalic cyst- the intragam should reduce the risk of bleeds reoccuring. the big question is- Is it worth going through all the treatments- weekly injections from 12-16 weeks lasts over a few hours, platlette counts from cord- pretty dangerous, and steroids for lung maturation and elective caesar @34-36 wks? your experience although not the same will be greatly appreciated thanks

Hi Sams Mum

I have just read Sam's story and hope that everything progresses well for him as it should, and I am sure it will. I just wanted to ask you about your NAIT's. My husband and I fell pregnant last year with twins but at the 20 week scan it looked like one of our precious babies had a inter cranial bleed, though there was a difference of opinion at the time. Nait was suggested to us at the time, not by our dr but by another specialist. It was never followed through at the time partly because we were told it was so rare.... but mostly because our pregnancy took a horrible turn, unrelated to the 'potential NAIT' and we lost our little babies. Now that we are trying to fall pregnant again my husband and I had a screening done on our platlet groups to see it we have a mix match. We do...we are in compatable on hpa 3a/b which could be a 'potential NAIT' case. After speaking with a fetal maternal medicine specialist, and who consulted a fetal haematologist, we were told they didn't believe our baby had NAIT and that we wouldn't be treated for it in our next pregnancy, as the risks with treatment out way the risk of NAIT. They had both said they had never seen a case of NAIT due to hpa 3a/b, and I have yet to find one in the searching I have done. Obviously it is good to hear the experts in the field say they don't think it id NAIT but I can't help worrying. Do you know anything about the type of incompatibility that you and your partner had? Any information that you have found out about NAIT would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Sams Mum

I had thought I had replied to this thread earlier but must of done something wrong!

I am so sorry to hear about all that you have gone through with your beautiful boy, but I am so sure that he will develop exactly as he should, everyone one meets milestones at different rates.

I wanted to ask you about your NAIT, my husband and I fell pregnant with twins last year but heartbreakingly at our 20 week scan it looked like one of our bubbas had a intercranial bleed - though there was a difference of opinion at the time. NAIT was suggested to us by a wonderful specialist but my doctor never brought it up. Unfortunately two weeks later we lost our babies, not related to the 'potential NAIT', and so testing wasn't really followed at the time. Because we are wanting to fall pregnant again now I asked my doctor for the screening test. It has come back as a 'potential NAIT' as we have a mix match on the hpa 3a/b platelet. But now after seeing a fetal maternal specialist and she consulted a fetal haemotoligist they believe it wasn't NAIT as they aren't 100% sure there was a bleed and apparently the type of NAIT that we would have to have is so rare they have never heard of any cases of it...... I want to believe that this is just all good news but at the same time are so worried because it is not as though doctors haven't been wrong before....

Do you know what type of platelet incompatibility your partner and you have? Any information that you have found on NAIT would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi my name is Stephanie and I run a support group on yahoo for this condition. I also suffer from it as well. My son Chris was born in 2000 with bilateral brain damage (one porencephalic cyst and one supposedly arachnoid (I think it is also porencephaly) ANyway there is treatment for this condition and I had it done last year and gave birth to a healthy (but premature) baby boy named Jason. He is now 9 months old and completely healthy. My old Chris is healthy but does have special needs from the brain bleeds. My doctor James Bussel is New York in the USA BUT my support group has a few ladies from Australia in it who have gone on to have healthy babies as well. I am not sure if I am allowed to post a link to our group but if you go to yahoo seach the groups for neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia and you will find us. There is also a link to us on wikipedia :)

Please if there is anything to do to help please ask. NAIT is not as rare as you may think it is just you have to find a doctor who has a specialty in it.
Steph