Pregnant Women with Sickle Cell Urged to Seek Specialist Care

Pregnant women living with sickle cell disease are being implored to seek early specialised care at high-risk clinics.

Speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on June 17, Co-Chair of the National Sickle Cell Technical Working Group, Professor Jennifer Knight-Madden, said women living with the disease should see specialists before they get pregnant or when they are considering pregnancy.

“You go to these high-risk clinics so you can get preventative care. We have many women with sickle cell disease who have had many children. But the truth is, your chance of dying around pregnancy and just after delivery is about seven times as much as a woman who doesn’t have sickle cell disease,” she pointed out.

Professor Knight-Madden said women with the condition should consider the risks associated with pregnancy as they will need strong support.

“It is a risk that you’re taking. Another myth is that women who have sickle cell disease can’t get pregnant anyway, so they can do anything without any kind of contraception; that also clearly is not true,” she said.

“So, from the girls are young, we tell them you have sickle cell disease, [and] getting pregnant by accident… that’s not a good thing. When you are ready, you have a supportive partner who’s going to be with you through this. Then you come off contraceptive… and then immediately, when you know you’re pregnant, go to a high, high-risk clinic,” the Professor advised.

For her part, National Sickle Cell Programme Coordinator at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr. Carol Lord, said women with the condition should pursue pre-conception counselling before trying to conceive and seek specialist care as soon as they have a missed period.

“You cannot go to your general practitioner for follow up for sickle cell disease and pregnancy. That’s a big risk. You should be seeing a specialist, an obstetrician,” she said.

Dr. Lord noted that while sickle cell disease has not been a feature of maternal mortality in Jamaica, there were one or two cases in 2022 which were due to complications that can be avoided.

As such, she emphasised the need for women with the disease to seek the recommended level of care as soon as they recognise that they are pregnant.

“Do not go to a general practitioner. You need high specialised care for favourable outcomes for you and your baby,” she reiterated.

World Sickle Cell Awareness Day was observed on Wednesday, June 19, under the theme: ‘Sickle Cell Matters: Whole Person, Whole Health – Know Your Status’.