Obstetric Choleostasis

March 2010

I was eight months pregnant with our Daughter when I noticed the itching. It was unbearable and no amount of scratching would make it go away. I told my midwife my concerns after reading up on it, and she said I had better have a blood test to rule out Obstetric Choleostasis, a rare condition which occurs during pregnancy when there is a reduced flow of bile down the bile ducts in the liver. Bile is a fluid which is made by the liver that aids digestion and the reduced flow causes the bile acids to leak into the bloodstream and can be dangerous for both Mum and Baby. 

I went for my blood tests (I think they took about 8 phials of blood!) And they confirmed I did indeed have choleostasis  and I was sent to Kettering General Hospital where I was given a liver check up.  My first in over three years. The consultant confirmed my liver was stable and I was given tablets to help with the itching and told to come back for more tests after the birth. I apologise for not remembering the name of the tablets. One of the main side effects of Hep C I suffer with is memory loss. I was also to be induced two weeks early since the bile could be life threatening to the baby. 

The next two weeks can only be described as hell! The tablets didn't work too well as I was vomiting so much, especially in the evenings. I just couldn't keep them down.  The itching was the least of my problems though. At the risk of giving too much information, it wasn't normal 'vomit,'that was coming up, it was huge globules of , I guess bile, thick, clear balls of it the size of golf balls that would choke me. I couldn't breathe when it happened. And the chronic fatigue was the worst I have ever experienced. I couldn't eat. I literally felt like I was dying.

I was induced on my birthday in April 2010, and after a six hour labour, our beautiful little girl entered the world, and, at the risk of sounding corny,  as she came out, I honestly felt like a new woman.  The illness and sickness, fatigue, everything, felt like it had washed away.  Like someone had injected me with a dose of perfect health or something. I could walk without feeling like I was going to collapse and everyone said how much better I looked. I remember walking down the hospital corridor practically bouncing.  I had never felt better. 

Our daughter was tested for Hep C in the hospital which came back negative and she also received a Hepatitis B vaccination as a precaution. I didn't quite understand this, but apparently they go hand in hand. I wasn't one to argue.  I didn't want her getting anything close to what I have. 

Fast forward to 2018... She is now 8 years old and we are back, living in Northampton,  and up until a few months ago, I had not followed up on the liver function tests I was supposed to go back for. I am terrible for putting others first and ignoring my health. I really need to start looking after myself better!

Earlier this year my Husband and I were considering trying for another baby before by biological clock runs out!  I am 37 now.  I didn't want to go through what I went though last time, and my midwife had told me  that I would have to be carefully monitored if I fell pregnant again as choleostasis usually occurs again the second time around. 

So this April I went back to my GP and asked to be referred back to Dr Udi, if he was still practising, after all, it had been over 14 years since I was last seen by him!  She told me he was still practising, but there was no say if it would be him that I would be seen by. And that's where my treatment journey begins...