Obstetric Cholestasis - tell me about your prengnacy & labour

[rrreow]

I had this last time (2 years ago) and was induced at 38+1. Currently 34w with my 2nd pregnancy and I think I'm developing it again. It seems that the guidance has changed slightly from 2 years ago regarding the proven risks (reading on patient.co.uk), but not sure what that actually means in practice regarding monitoring/intervention etc. Would love to hear from other people who've been through this.

So if you had OC, please tell me your experience.
-When was this?
-At what point in your pregnancy were you diagnosed?
-What was done during your pregnancy?
-Were you induced? If yes, at what point? If not, when did you go into labour naturally?
-Where did you give birth?
-Did you have any complications or issues that were definitely attributed to the OC?
-How was your labour?

I'm afraid I can't help but I'm watching with interest as I'd like to know some of these answers as well. I'm 32 weeks, was put on drugs for OC about four weeks ago but now my bloods are coming back normal - not sure if this is due to the drugs working or that it wasn't OC in the first place (high LFT results could have been due to virus?) but would be interested to hear other people's experiences.

I had this with my DD in 2010:
i was prescribed medication for my OC, can't remember what it was called, however it did feel like although this helped my LFT's and acid levels in my case did little to relieve my symptoms of chronic itching.

was diagnosed at the end of the 2nd trimester and continued to have 2 weekly bloods taken and regular monitoring. I think I was in such a daze from the onset of DC and so sleep deprived as the itching was worse at night and working full time I had trouble retaining information given to me at the time.

I was induced 5 days before my due date went about my business for 2 days before my waters broke and delivered naturally at hospital admittedly after a long labour. Our DD is healthy and well with no complications attributed to OC.

The main thing for me was that as soon as my waters broke and our DD came along, my itching completely stopped (phew). I understand that OC affects people differently so I suspect everyone has there own story.

At the time I found an OC support group on google groups and found this a very good place for support. I can't seem to find it now however have found this: www.ocsupport.org/whatisoc.html

I wish you both the best with your pregnancies.

I had this with my first pregnancy ( ds born April 2010) was diagnosed at 32 weeks and was given mess and twice weekly monitoring. I was due to be induced At 37.5 weeks on a wed but was given a sweep the previous Thursday and went into natural labour that morning. All went back to normal quickly after birth.

With my second preg had regular lft but it did not return - maybe as I had gallbladder out in between according to doc. Good luck :)

Sorry that was given meds not mess

Sorry that was given meds not mess

Thanks for these responses so far, that's helpful! I just remembered I'd bookmarked that website a while back macey it seems a lot more comprehensive than patient.co.uk and although it's not necessarily the stuff I want to hear, at least I feel more informed now.

Anyone else who can share their experience I'd love to hear!

anyone else who can share their experiences?

I've just been to the consultant today who has said that even though my bile acids are coming back at normal levels now (presumably due to the drugs they've got me on being effective) they will induce at 40 weeks and wont let you go over this. They will only induce before 40 weeks if you are classed as high risk and your bile acids are coming back very high (I think she said over 50?).

The consultant also advised that I give birth at the hospital rather than the MLU or home birth I was hoping for. Chances are I'm going to ignore her advice on that one though. Hope this helps? at least you know it's current!

Purple, I don't think it's possible to have an induction in a mlu or at home (the midwives won't do it), so here's hoping you go into labour naturally before 40 weeks if that's what you want.

I was diagnosed last time at 39 weeks and induced at 39+6. My bile acids were fluctuating between normal (c.4-5) and about 17. They weren't happy to let me go over 40 weeks.

Thanks purple that is really helpful! It's the first I've heard of waiting until 40w for induction. It's something I'm quite keen on too as I'd also like to go into labour naturally and have a homebirth or at least MLU birth.