Dr. Moise’s Study Using Plasmapheresis and IVIG to Treat Severe Maternal Red Cell Alloimmunization | Losing Lucy and Finding Hope

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I know most of you won’t be very interested in this, but I thought it might be good for me to post a link to Dr. Moise’s study on plasmapheresis and IVIG. Dr. Kenneth Moise is the maternal fetal medicine specialist who will be treating me in Houston, Texas. I have been doing plasmapheresis and IVIG since I was 11 weeks pregnant and it is probably the reason Nora is still alive right now. My doctors were not going to do this treatment with me, even though I have lost a baby and I have a very high antibody titer (level.) This treatment isn’t the normal protocol and is still considered somewhat “experimental” so the doctors usually don’t offer it initially. This is why it’s important to get this information out there. I printed off this study and took it to my doctors and asked them to reconsider allowing me to do the treatment. I also emailed Dr. Moise and gave his email address to my doctors. They contacted him and then agreed to try using his protocol, even though they emphasized that they didn’t know if it would work.

The most amazing thing about the study is when they compare the women’s previous pregnancies (without the treatment) to the most recent pregnancies (with the treatment.) Out of the nine women in the study, seven of them lost their babies in the previous pregnancy. They lost them at 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 28 and 31 weeks gestation. With their next pregnancies ALL of the women’s babies survived because they were treated with plasmapheresis and IVIG. The babies were born between 27-38 weeks.

If you are pregnant and have antibodies, this study could be very helpful for you. I think it could be especially helpful if:

  • you have one of the most aggressive antibodies such as anti-D or anti-kell
  • you have a very high titer (in the hundreds or thousands)
  • you have lost a baby to antibodies in a previous pregnancy
  • your baby was severely affected by antibodies in a previous pregnancy

If you are in one of these groups I recommend you print off Dr. Moise’s study and take it to your MFM, preferably in the first trimester. Talk to your MFM about possibly trying this treatment. I asked my MFMs about trying this treatment when I was pregnant with Lucy, but they said she would be fine and didn’t need it and it was experimental. It was my first sensitized pregnancy so she should have been fine, but she wasn’t. Instead of pushing for the treatment, I let it go. I always wonder if she would have survived had we tried the treatment. If you feel like this treatment might be helpful for your baby, keep pushing until they agree to try it. If they won’t, look around for a second opinion with a different MFM, even if you have to drive a ways to get there. I am not a doctor or an expert on this kind of thing, but I am a mother who has lost her child and I hope you can learn from my story. I would love for Lucy and Nora’s story to help another baby. Here is the link to the study:

PlasmapheresNAIT

*UPDATE- Our kell positive baby Nora was born healthy and happy at 37 weeks and 6 days on July 19th, 2015. I know she survived because of the plasmapheresis and IVIG. I have also met several other women on the ISO Moms Facebook group who have lost babies to antibodies and then have been able to go on and have healthy rainbow babies after being treated with plasmapheresis and IVIG.