Sickle cell disease in pregnancy

Many women with sickle cell disease now survive to reproduce. The high risk of fetal and maternal complications mandates multidisciplinary management involving an obstetrician, a haematologist, an anaesthetist and a haemoglobinopathy specialist nurse. Exchange transfusion may be indicated in patients with a history of serious obstetric or haematological complications. In women with sickle cell disease, the entire pregnancy is a high-risk period that warrants close monitoring. Thus it is important for every obstetrician to be familiar with the condition.