Amnti-Kell Antibodies

[gertiebus]

Help - Does anyone have any experience of anti-kell antibodies ? Mine came form a blood transfusion after my first baby and are at quite a low level at the momoent - I have about 7 weeks to go. However doctors, nurses and midwives seem to have no knowledge and little or no interest - are we alone with this ? I'm now feeling that if we have any problems with baby two as a result of this, I will sue the ass off all concerned - we lost two through miscarriage last year and this bump is too precious to be messed around - help

I am currently on my second pregnancy since contracting the Anti Kell Antibody (to name just one) after receiving a blood transfusion in 1994 after my 1st pregnancy.My second pregnancy started normally with my head in a bowl in late 1999 I discovered I had these antibodies during routine blood checks at 12 weeks. I can say one this back then I had a fantastic Obstetrician who was aware of the problem however he wanted to get more advise from specialists in Birmingham to see all the complications given the amount of antibody types I was carrying, still by then end of the day I knew all the what if?s. The result was Weekly Scans and fortnightly blood tests ( testing changes in the antibody levels) I have learned the following 1 the worst Antibody to Carry is anti K I truly felt like a walking time bomb waiting to see if the fuse ran out every week and relief when I found out the fuse was longer however each week passed and luckily nothing happened. 2 Paternal bloods were taken as well as mine you see everything is down to odds just like betting on the Grand National Horse Race. This is how it works Mum is more than likely Anti K negative so when mum has transfusion from a kell positive donor she develops antibodies against Kell. This is when genetics get into it dad can be totally Kell Negative, Kell Positive or carry a positive and a negative from his own parents since conception. My husband is the later of these which means for us a 50 percent chance that he could have already passed the Kell gene to junior, even If the Kell gene has been passed on it still means that Mum might or might not pass the Antibodies to kell through the placenta...I am sure you all see the problem hence the monitoring. Now its 2010 and last week me and my husband had the most incredible tests done....hence ten years on pregnancy Three we are nervously expecting again we know the odds we have gone back to the same OBS from university of north Staffordshire hospitals nhs trust... the developments of technology we are waiting for the results now and hope to get them Tuesday 5th Jan 2010, Dr has advised us what these test will do. 1 they are re ? testing paternal bloods as I still do carry other antibodies. 2 a New test only currently being done in one location world-wide to our knowledge Bristol UK. Last Tuesday the bloods were taken and transported there. Some of my sample with be taken and stripped of all my groupings DNA etc right down to the final plasma that will be left from that they can produce foetal DNA and thus tell us if our unborn child is Kell positive or not. This is nor risking our pregnancy like an intrauterine blood test would have...plus we can then ensure a plan of action for our pregnancy... we know what might happen but let?s face it us pregnant mothers need a chill pill and we must all take it easy and not worry I have a very if it happens it happens attitude and me and my family will survive everything put in our path. I just believe that the world should know about this test you never know it might help someone out there hopefully it won?t need to help anyone because some other injection given to people after a transfusion will be developed to stop anti bodies being produced just like those with RH disease....Good Luck everyone out there who needs it

Oh dear... am now seriously worried. I just had a routine antinatal appointment at 34 weeks and was told that I have the Anti-Kell antibody, picked up in a blood test at 29 weeks (but not before??) and only just mentioned to me. Have been refered to an obstetrician but the appointment is not till the end of next week. From what little I have been able to find out so far - including the helpful post above - I think this might be all happening a bit slowly. Is that right? Should I worry? No mention has been made of paternal blood test but the midwife didn't seem to know that much about it other than that it could lead to jaundice in the newborn. This is my second pregnancy and I didn't have any trouble with my first (offspring healthy 3 year old). Have never had a blood transfusion. Any advice?

Hi Shouldbe - I had this too with DS, who is now 5 months. It was discovered at my booking in bloods at 20 weeks, probably arising from a blood transfusion 6 years ago.

I was stunned at the lack of knowledge that many medical professionals had. I was constantly giving conflicting information from midwifes.

Anti k can cause HDN, which can be nasty, so it should be taken seriously. The best advice I got was to get DH tested. It turned out that his blood phenotype put us at no risk whatsoever for HDN and the issue dissolved away into thin air the minute we got the result. However, I had a really stressy 5 weeks before this was all organised and results known. I seem to recall that you have a greater chance of falling into this group of unaffected pregnancies.

Where the paternal blood phenotype increases the risk of HDN, bloods to assess titre should be taken monthly , alongside ultrasound later in pregnancy. Amazingly, my friend was anti k too, years ago, and ended up having a number of intrauterine blood transfusions. Baby was absolutely fine and she was very closely monitored.

It can be scary, but as long as you get someone knowledgeable to manage it, you will feel a lot more in control. And make sure everyone is aware of your status when you approach labour - they always need to be able to access appropriate blood for you, just in case you need a transfusion.

I recall the panic only too well, but all was fine with me. I'm sure it will be for you too.

Bump

Hi, Know exactly what you are all going through. Around 9 weeks had blood test, because of other issues, discovered had Anti-Kell antibodies. Husband had blood test aswell, we are still waiting to hear results. But anyway no-one seems to know what they are, and when you do talk to a Midwife etc they all tell you differently. As far as i am aware i have never had a blood transfusion, although had many operations. Had my daughter November 2005, no antibodies were picked up then, so where the hell did i get them from!!!!??? Although after looking on the internet i have just discovered there can be umbilical cords issues with anti kell and my daughter only had two vessels instead of three. So we are really frustrated and worried. Seeing a consultant next Tuesday, but the midwife advised that he may not know much and will have to research!!!!
Any advice or reassuring words would be great.

I too am anti-kell positive at 9 weeks. Had blood transfusion on the birth of my first. My other half is being tested but his doctor and the nurse at his surgery have never heard of this, they dont know what bottle to put his blood in and everyone is faffing about when all I want is an answer. The chances are he is negative but I am surprised at the lack of information about something which can have such a serious outcome on the newborn.