Baby was Kell positive. I have Kell antibodies. They attacked baby’s blood and left her anaemic.
it was picked up on my booking bloods that I had the antibodies. Nothing happened until 20 weeks because babies don’t use their own blood before that point (very simple explanation). After 20 weeks we were at foetal medicine for a scan. They measured the blood flow around babies heart and brain. The flow rate was divided by the weeks of gestation. If it was above a certain amount she was deemed anaemic.
Before 34 weeks they do a blood transfusion through the umbilical cord with blood which has no antibodies, after 34 weeks they’re safer out.
We discussed induction and a normal Labour, which they said was a possibility, depending how critical the anaemia got. But did say if baby needed a transfusion it would likely be a section.
In the end we made it to 34 weeks. I had steroids at my morning appointment for babies lungs, then another shot when I came back that evening to stay overnight.
I was first on the list the next day, but I wasn’t taken to theatre until 3pm as there were on neonatal cots available.
It was quite crowded in theatre as there were 2 teams, one for me, one for baby. She was 6lb 11oz (only 2 oz off her term sibling) so not teeny tiny for a 34 weeker.
she wasn’t critical when born, so they weighed and sorted her out, and we got to see her. She was taken to neonatal s d I sent DH with her as I was ok being sewed up on my own.
She had a ‘top up’ transfusion rather than a ‘replacement’ transfusion, and was out of neonatal in 12 hours, then onto HDU for 36.
What I wasn’t told about and came as a shock was the amount of time we had to stay in. The anaemia left her very jaundiced so we spent 10 days on trasitionary care ward (which was attached to the normal post-natal ward, but the nurses were neonatal trained). We did do home, but we’re sent back after a midwife visit for bloods and we’re readmitted for another 4 days.
She was 4 last week.