Prenatal bloodwork came back with pos kell cell antigens. Scared anyone have any info?

[Mackenzie]

I'm so worried. Had consult with ob today and he was very negative and made me feel like this pregnancy is doomed. I forgot also to ask if continuing low dose aspirin and prometrium vaginally is still ok after finding this out? Any info anyone has or experience would be really helpful. Left doc in tears he was so cold :(

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm so sorry Mac. I honestly don't know much but I will educate myself straight away and get back to you first thing tomorrow.

I think you should call and ask about the aspirin and prometrium.

[Mackenzie]

Thanks atomic, I have done some research and it doesn't seem as hopeless as the ob put it, he told me he just had a patient lose her second babe at 15 weeks. Wtf who tells a person that their first visit? I cannot get ahold of anyone as it's the weekend :(

[WantingPink]

Do you have Anti-K (big K) is that why there is a concern? Do you know for sure that baby is Big K positive? I am guessing the reason why your OB is freaking out is that you have an Anti-K. Have you had a titer done? Have you been transfused in the past or do they think you got the anti-K from blood exposure to a previous baby? Do you know for sure that DH is Big K positive. I believe the Kell system is make up of two alleles so there is usually a 50% chance that baby will be K negative even if Dad is K positive.

You should be given the option of an amnio to find out if baby is big K positive. If baby is big K positive it isn't a death sentence however, there is a good chance baby will have to be transfused several times during your pregnancy. With all the doom and gloom your current OB has I would switch to an OB that is more confident that they can help you and has lots of experience with transfusion.

Hope that helped and didn't cause more confusion.

[aidansmum]

That sounds like a horrible Doctor hun, sorry he made you feel like that :(
I am not sure what these antibodies are or how aggressive they are but if there is real concern, like WaitingPink said, they test daddy and the baby and IF the baby has the antibody you may need constant monitoring throughout pregnancy including scans so they can make sure baby is ok, if they find out the baby is being affected by your antibodies baby may need in-utero blood transfusion, but this is in very severe cases when baby develops anaemia. In most cases babies are just born with jaundice and taken care of as soon as they're out and their blood cells recover pretty quick. So, even if the case was severe, which is an exception, most babies are fine with proper care and monitoring, so the Doctor shouldn't have scared you like that, it's not right! They also found an antibody in my blood but the quantity was so small they couldn't identify it and by testing again the Doctor said it's not the kind that passes through the placenta, I can't describe how relieved I was! Right now all you have to do is do all the relevant tests and assess how your baby could be affected and from there develop a treatment plan, maybe find another Doctor? Thinking of you and hoping all goes well. x

[Mackenzie]

Thanks so much for all your help and input. I have not had a transfusion so the ob believes my hubby must be k pos and I was exposed through one of my csections. He seemed confident that hubby didn't need bloodwork from my no transfusion history, assuming he was the culprit and passed to babe. He did say 50/50 chance of K+ K-. He did offer an amnio or bloodwork that's new and non invasive way of finding out, it just costs 800.00. Or he said I could go on assuming babe is k+ and treat as suck with close monitoring. He booked a ultrasound at 14.5 weeks. I read that an amnio can be harmful not just with the 1/200 misc rate but also there could be a bleed from babe into me which would trigger more antigens from me making situation worse for babe which he did not mention to me. It's so much to take in. I do feel better reading online from so many ppl with pos outcomes. He was so negative I don't understand. Maybe losing the 15 week old took a toll? Anyways he works in conjunction with another female ob who I am going to try and see instead.

[WantingPink]

Loss of the baby at 15 weeks makes me think that Mom did have a bleed or a very high titer or maybe got pregnant right after she was exposed to the K.

Your OB should be monitoring your titer. A titer is what tells you how much antibody you have. I think a critical level is something like a 1:16 but that is something your OB should know. It is also important to monitor your titer to see if it is rising. If your titer isn't rising over a period of time that would also be a good indicator that baby is big K neg. That is good that they have a blood test now... I would think they would as they have one for anti-D now.

I think doctors like to tell us the worse case scenario and then when that doesn't happen then they are the hero which IMO isn't what is in your best interest. You need a doctor who can give you some perspective on this situation and not just tell you how bad it looks. You shouldn't have to be scouring the internet for information. I would be very upfront with him and tell him that if he isn't confident he can handle and take care of your pregnancy then he needs to refer you to someone who can. If this baby is big K positive the outcome is going to be very dependent on your OB.

Just a side note... with my last C-section I had two OBs in on the surgery. The first OB came into see me after my C-section and the first thing she said to me is "you shouldn't have anymore kids. Your scar tissue is really bad and this should be your last baby". After I got out of the hospital I went to see the other OB for my 2 week post op. He asked how I was doing and blah blah. He said nothing about the surgery. So I asked him how it went and if there was a lot of scar tissue. He said there was but that he had resected what he could and put in some seprafilm that would help with future scaring. I told him what the other OB said about not having anymore kids due to the scaring and he looked a little confused. He was surprised she told me that and he said that isn't the case and I could go on to have more kids if I chose to do so. So... now that I am pregnant guess which OB will be doing my surgery?? Certainly not the OB that said don't have anymore kids. I want the OB who has been there, done that and isn't afraid!!

[aidansmum]

Wishing you luck and hope all turns out well for you and your baby x

[Mackenzie]

Thank you. Have a app with maternity doc on Wed. I havent met her yet just the doc who works for her when she is away. Im hoping she has a more pos utlook than the ob. He didn't say anything abou titres which I thought was strange as after i saw him I started researching online and all these women talk about the titres. Im going to ask maternity doc about this as well.

[atomic sagebrush]

Any update??