• Join Today!

Become a member and connect with:

  • An Active Online Community
  • Articles and Advice on SCD
  • Help Understanding Clinical Trials
learn more
patient education

What You Should Know About Sickle Cell Disease and Pregnancy

key information

source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

year: N/A

summary/abstract:

What should someone with sickle cell trait or sickle cell disease do if he or she is planning to have a baby?

• A woman and her partner should get tested for SCT if they are planning to have a baby.
• Testing is available at most hospitals or medical centers, from SCD community-based organizations, or at local health departments.
• If a woman or her partner has SCT, a genetic counselor can provide additional information and further discuss the risks to their children.

Will someone with sickle cell trait or sickle cell disease have a baby with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait?

• During pregnancy, prenatal testing can be done to find out if a baby will have SCD, SCT, or neither one.
• The prenatal tests chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis often are used to find out if the baby will have the disease or carry the trait. These tests usually are conducted after the second month of pregnancy.

read more

expertly curated content related to this topic

Don’t forget to join the oneSCDvoice community!

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close