Lisa

My husband and I have struggled with fertility issues for the last 3 years. After being diagnosed with unexplained infertility, we suffered a miscarriage.

Fourteen months after the miscarriage, we finally saw another positive pregnancy test! The pregnancy was progressing well, we had attended all of the required doctor appointments, and everything looked good. We found out we were having a little girl, and we were over the moon! Then, everything took a turn for the worse. At six months pregnant, I felt an excruciating pain in my abdomen. After multiple emergency room visits, I was transferred via ambulance to the Ottawa hospital. The first 2 nights I was a walking mystery. They were finally able to diagnose me with severe pre-eclampsia that turned into H.E.L.L.P. syndrome, a very serious yet very rare pregnancy complication characterized by hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells), elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count. Unfortunately, this also meant my placenta wasn’t giving the baby enough nutrients so she was measuring smaller than she should have been. This resulted in the devastating situation of having to choose to save my life, or choose to save my baby’s life. As she had a very low chance of survival, we lost our baby. Doctors have advised us that, currently, it is unsafe to try again which has been devastating.

H.E.L.L.P syndrome affects 0.2 - 0.6% of pregnancies and is sadly not well known or studied. During our time at the hospital, specific blood work was needed but they didn’t have the proper equipment at our local hospital and had to send my blood sample out for testing. They didn’t get the results back until after I had delivered. Thanks to my doctors, they have now been able to get the proper equipment at our local hospital which will hopefully help future parents-to-be facing H.E.L.L.P. So, if I can find one good thing to come from my story, that is it. Thank you for listening.