Some of our members have shared their experiences below - hopefully you will find these interesting and of use!

If you wish to add you own experience please PM Lisa

Ok i had Obstetric Cholestasis with my 3rd pregnancy. It is where your live produces toxins that pass to the baby. There is a risk of still birth and its recommended baby be born around 37-38 weeks. It doesnt go until the placenta is gone.

It wasnt picked up by the midwife even though i had been telling her how bad i was itching. It wasnt so much my hands that itched for me but but feet and the bottom of my legs.

It started around 28 weeks mild but constant itching. It gradually got worse until i was itching till i bled and was taking around 7 showers a day. I had told my midwife but she didnt test my blood for it.

I had seen the midwife at 36 weeks and she finally took some blood. I rang for results at 37 weeks but was informed my midwife had gone on annual leave so i had to make an appointment with the doctor!! I couldnt take the itching any longer and at 5 am in the morning my OH rang the hospital for the results. They said i had raised LFT's (liver function test) and could i come in straight away.

So we went in and they said i had severe obstetric cholestasis ad had to be induced immediately to ensure the safety of the baby. So that day i had Archie 3 weeks early weighing 7lb 1oz. He was given anti b's just in case but he was perfectly healthy.

It took about 3 weeks for my LFT's to go back to normal. They told me i was very high risk to get it in subsequent pregnancies but i was fine in my 4th pregnancy.

Any questions you wanna ask, ask away xx

I was diagnosed with Obstetric Cholestasis at about 37w 5d, a day after the itching started.

The previous night I had been woken up with intense itching on my hands and feet, to the point I was scratching them on the carpet in an attempt to stop the itching.

This was not like the usual itch belly with pregnancy, it was unbelievably itchy, I was unable to think of anything but scratching my hands and soles of my feet

The next morning I googled it and found OC, I was really worried, I called my MWs who called me in for a blood test immediately, they rushed the test through and later on confirmed I did have OC

I was sent to the PANDA unit for monitoring, I had been told to take my bags as I would be induced. However the consultant decided that they would not induce me becuase I was only 37w 6d...and I had to be 38w...so we left ...and would return on the Wednesday for an induction.

I was diagnosed very quickly and so although my levels were high they were able to give me medication for those few days and anti histamines to help with the itching, didn't really work though!

As it happened Izzy had decided to arrive early anyway and she was perfect!

I stopped the tablets the night before she was born and didn't itch afterwards, I had to go for a liver scan (just like the ultrasound that you have in pregnancy) a few weeks later and all was clear!

I started to suffer from SPD when I was around 25 weeks pregnant, my hips were really painful, like they felt loose in the sockets.

My coccyx was shockingly sore, If I sat down for 5 minutes the getting up was agony, so bad I had to rev myself up to stand and on more than one occasion chicken out and stayed sat down til I had to get up!

Once I did try to stand the pain was so bad it brought tears to my eyes and many bad words out of my mouth.

I was referred for phsyio by my MW, it didnt really do much and I was in agony afterwards, so i decided to let it run its course and carry on in pain!

Unfortunately I still suffer pretty bad with hip and coccyx pain, I have very strong painkillers, which don't help very much, I can't sleep (can you tell? its 3am!), if I take painkillers so I can sleep then I will feel like shit the next day, nauseas, migraines, groggy.....I wonder if its worth it!?

Well i suffered with an Irritable Uterus in my last pregnancy. I didn't even know it existed until i started getting painful contractions at 12 weeks, then at 15 weeks and 6 days i started to have bad contractions every few minutes and was convinced i was having a late miscarriage. I was in tears and was bent over with the pain. I tried to get a lift to the hospital but ended up calling an ambulance. Because i wasn't yet 16 weeks (bearing in mind it was 9pm and i was 15 weeks 6 days!) i couldn't go to triage and had to go A&E. I waited about four hours in A&E by which time they'd stopped. They simply gave me co-codamol and said these things happen in pregnancy To this i lost my temper...

I decided to walk and take myself to Maternity as i wasn't happy with my treatment. They were lovely to me and calmed me down as i couldn't stop crying. They checked me over and said all looked well and all was well with baby but if it happens again come straight in... A week later after a few more episodes i was diagnosed by the consultant obstetrician that i 'probably' had an Irritable Uterus and it was nothing to worry about.

Well i continued these contractions throughout my pregnancy and tried so hard to get them to listen to me and give me something to help. At about 28 weeks i was put on GTN patches to widen the blood vessels which in turn should relax the Uterus (they are generally used for people who have had heart attacks)... they helped quite a lot and then was told i'd have to come off them as they're only given short term. I was put on bed rest to minimise the chances of premature labour and to prevent as much pain as possible( Prem labour is rare but you have a higher chance with an Irritable Uterus)

A few days after i came off the GTN patches i completely blacked out, shaking the lot! It turns out the patches had caused my blood pressure to drop too low, luckily within a few days they stabilised.

At 34 weeks i was taken in as was leaking white fluid... they had me in three times and an overnight stay where i was scanned and told i possibly had a hind water sac tear but fluid was normal etc...

However in my stay i was on the monitor regularly, and low and behold every time i was on i was having contractions. The nurse asked me to do numerous urine samples to which i said okay but you'll get the same result they have all through! She came back and said i hadn't a UTI I was finally believed by all of them that i did in fact have an Irritable Uterus.

At 38 weeks i'd had enough and cried and begged them to help me go into labour as i'd had enough of the pain. They gave me a sweep to which he said i was already 2cms dilated and he stretched me to 3cms. Two hours later i started having yet more contractions... unfortunately i went through two days of constant contractions until i was finally in established labour!! From 5cms the labour went very quickly meaning i ended up with just gas and air. I wasn't surprised as it happens a lot with ladies with this condition due to the Uterus being so used to contracting and so toned! I went from 7cms to 10cms in twenty minutes, 15 mins later i was holding Joseph!!!

I am very likely to have the same condition in all my pregnancies now and unfortunately it tends to get worse with each pregnancy. I have already started getting bad period type cramps often and particularly when i touch my stomach as it irritates the Uterus.

There are a few things you can do to try to make this condition more bearable, including drinking lots of fluid, resting and keeping abdominal palpation to a minimal.

I hope this helps somebody as there isn't a lot of information around about it xxx