I'm new here and couldn't find any precious posts about this but does anyone else have the antibody anti c small? I have never heard of this and was just told by my doctors office yesterday that I have it. I'm only 9 weeks pregnant also, not sure if that makes a difference. If anyone has any experience with this and could shed some light on it I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
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No experience, but bumping this for you in case others do!
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I think my sister had this when she was pregnant with my nephew. She was labeled high risk and required more monitoring, but everything was ok. I don't really know more details and it was 12 years ago so I doubt she'd remember.
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Thank you ladies for the bump! The only thing the nurse told me was that it was very rare. I've searched the internet for any information but it is very limited and most if it is negative. So needless to say I'm trying to avoid google and find someone with experience with this crazy thing.
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Well, after seeing this, I just spent an hour reading up on rhesus factors and autoimmunity - what a fascinating topic. It looks like small c antibody is rare and potentially one of the more serious ones. Did they outline the extra care that you would require?
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They honestly have given me no information. Everything I've learned I've found on the internet. They told me my husband needs to go have a blood test, which he's doing on Monday, and then they will know how to treat me after those results. I go to a very good hospital, but I'm kind of getting the impression that they've never treated anyone with this. I'm guessing that once we get me husbands results they will send me to a MFM doctor.
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Bump
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I remember a few other bees talking about autoimmunity issues, but they're so rare - have you looked around elsewhere for experiences? I found some blog posts that I don't want to link, because they had a pretty extreme experience. But there are surely others.
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@sarac: I've posted on the babycenter boards as well and have gotten nothing. I'm not sure where else to look. I've googled it a bunch of times but because of the rarity of it I'm finding nothing. Do you have any suggestions where else I could look?
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@Lemons18: Hi there - I don't have this specific issue, but have dealt with some rarer health issues. It can take quite a bit of searching and sometimes you just have to spend a little time each day going down different avenues before eventually you hit on a useful source. It might be a bigger baby/pregnancy site, or it might be another forum related to autoimmune issues that just happens to come up in your search. I mention doing a little bit each day because when you walk away and come back it's possible to look at it with a fresh approach each time. It sounds like you will most likely be seen by an MFM, who should be able to point you in the right direction and give you the monitoring you need, as well as hopefully some resources to get you started.
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Thank you!
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I just googled "anti small c antibody" and several blog posts and forum posts popped up. Most describe having frequent ultrasounds and bloodwork in the third trimester, as well as the various interventions that can sometimes take place.
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Here are the basics as I understand it. Take this with a grain of "helpful Internet stranger".
There are several Rhesus factors (Rh), the most common is D. Also C and c among many many others. "Small c" just helps clarify that it is for the lower case factor.
You carry antibodies to this Rh factor. When your blood comes in contact with blood that is Rhc positive, it will break down those blood cells.
In pregnancy, these antibodies cross the uterine-placenta junction and can cause this blood cell breakdown (hemolysis) in the baby IF the baby has this Rh factor.
This is why the first step is to test the father of the baby. It can help determine the chances your baby Rhc positive. It might turn out you are both Rhc negative, have an Rhc negative baby and there is no real risk.
If the baby has Rhc, it doesn't mean bad things will happen but you and the baby will probably have increased surveillance (blood draws for you, ultrasounds on baby) usually coordinated by MFM and your OB.
The relative rarity of anti c versus the anti D (most common) antibodies should not have a big impact on the surviellance or interventions, so you can do as much or as little research as you find helpful.
As a related note, Rhogam decreases the chances of developing anti-RhD antibodies only.
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