After the birth of their second child, Tracey and Paul Kelly learned that their new daughter, Claire, was affected by a rare condition known as allo immune thrombocytopenia (NAIT).
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NAIT occurs when an embryo inherits the blood of the father instead of the mother. As a result, Tracey's immune system identified the new baby's platelettes as foreign and began to attach the unborn child.
An extremely rare condition, NAIT is estimated to affect approximately one in 30,000 pregnancies.
Claire was born with a rash that alerted doctors to the condition. She recovered without medical intervention but Tracey and Paul were told there was a 50 per cent chance of the condition affecting any future pregnancy.
They were also informed that NAIT becomes more severe with each new pregnancy. If the condition were to reoccur, Tracey and Paul were told that their unborn baby could die, haemorrhage while still in the womb, or be born with cerebal palsy.
After extensive discussions with doctors from the Women's, Tracey and Paul decided they wanted a third child. During her pregnancy, Tracey underwent weekly transfusions - sometimes taking up to six hours to perform - of a blood product that protected the baby's platelets from Tracey's immune system.
From 28 weeks, the unborn baby also received blood transfusions, while still in the womb, to increase its blood platelet levels and protect it against further attacks by Tracey's immune system.
On occasions, both Tracey and her baby received transfusions simultaneously.
After months of treatment, Tracey gave birth to a small, but health, baby girl at 31 weeks gestation. Baby Olivia was cared for in the Women's Neonatal Intensive and Special Care units until she was ready to go home.
Despite the risks endured throughout her pregnancy, and her premature birth, Olivia is now a healthy little girl and has suffered no ill-effects from either her premature birth or treatment in the womb.
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