Sickle cell and thalessemia

[dom85]

I was reading through the pregnancy book that the midwife gave me and came to the bit about sickle cell and thalasemmia and there was something in there that said to inform the midwife if you have ancestors from a long list of places including Malta.

I'm now a bit worried as my grandma is Maltese and the baby's father is Afro-Carribean, we're not together now and I never had a reason to ask about his medical history. Does anyone know if the risk of my baby having one of these diseases is high because of this? As far as I know there isn't anyone in the family affected by either of them, but my MW is on holiday so cant ask at the moment.

If anyone knows anything I would be grateful, trying to be positive

 

[Elski]

Hi

Sorry you're having a panic about things at the moment. Perhaps looking at these websites might help sort your head out a bit? Genetics can be quite complicated but these sites explain things pretty well.

https://www.sicklecellsociety.org/information.htm

https://sct.screening.nhs.uk/gfaq

Hope you find the info you're looking for, good luck

E x

 

[ScarletGirl]

You can get a blood test, I think it is called a hemoglobin electrophoresis test (at least that is what it is called in the states). I had one done because I remeber that I was a carrier of some sort of trait and wasn't sure which one. Well it came up that I have the trait for Hemoglobin D which is rare but if combined with Sickle Cell or Thalassemia can cause the disease. My husband who is from South America got tested as well and it turned out he was not a carrier of any trait so our baby can at most just be a carrier of the Hemoglobin D trait which has no affect. If you get tested and you are not a carrier then you do not have to worry about the baby's father because even if he is a carrier of somethin the baby only has a chance of being a carrier and not affected by the disease (Sickle Cell or Thalasseimia). Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[ahava]

Yes i know alot about this. Im jewish, and we have the same disease called Tay sachs. I had a test to see if i was a carrier, and im fine. So you need to go to your Gp and ask for a blood test. Very simple really.

 

[Elski]

p.s. Forgot to mention - the blood they take when you have your first/booking appointment with the mw will include a test for sickle cell/thalassaemia so when your mw's back from holiday, you should be able to get the results. If she's already said to you that your bloods are back and there were no probs then that will include the sickle cell test (although that doesn't rule out the baby's father).

E x

 

[gracegrace]

With just your ex being of African origin, you're looking at a small risk of sickle cell. And with only one grandma being Maltese, there's an even smaller risk of thalassaemia. Were they both healthy, as far as you know? Even if you're not sure, the chances are your LO will be fine. Obviously nobody can offer you a full guarantee without the test, but the statistics are very heavily in favour of your baby having neither sickle cell nor thalassaemia. Could you defer worry until after you get the test results?

 

[Vestirse]

They will test you for being a carrier and if you are a carrier, they will test your OH. I had tests for thalassemia as DH is Italian and those of Mediterranean ancestry have a higher prevalence of beta thalassemia. I also have cousins with thalassemia minor (they are carriers) though mostly likely from alpha thalassemia and most likely they can't interact, but I'm clean so DH does not need to be tested as our child would be at most a carrier and not affected.

 

[dom85]

Thanks so much for your replies, I will try my best to defer worry until I've had a test. Kinda confused at the moment as to what tests I've had as I saw the EPU before I met my midwife and the nurse there said that as I was there she would do all my bloods but I was worried at the time about the spotting I was having so didn't ask her what she meant. She only gave me my Hcg result and MW wasn't sure what she would have meant as she said it would have been too early to do my bloods..??

I'll ring tomorrow to see if she's back, I've got my NT scan on Friday and I have to have bloods done when I'm there so hopefully they could test for it then

Thanks again ladies