Sickle cell disease in pregnancy

Abstract 

With advances in management, the majority of women in the UK with sickle cell disease now survive to have children. The high risk of fetal and maternal sequelae in their pregnancies mandates multidisciplinary management involving an obstetrician, a haematologist, an anaesthetist and a haemoglobinopathy specialist nurse. Hydroxycarbamide, a new treatment for sickle cell disease, is contraindicated in pregnancy. Exchange transfusion may be indicated in women with serious obstetric or haematological complications. In those with sickle cell disease, the entire pregnancy is a high-risk period that warrants close monitoring. It is thus important for every obstetrician to be familiar with the condition.

Keywords: clinical presentation, pregnancy, pathophysiology, sickle cell disease, management