Joanne Mackie, a 28-year old mother from Erdington, West Midlands, discovered, after giving birth to her first child, that she has a rare skin disease called Pemphigoid Gestationis, which makes her allergic to her own baby. Mackie developed serious rashes and painful blisters shortly after giving birth to her son, James. The welts in her skin were so excruciating that she could not hold her own baby and was forced to cover her arms with damp towels to protect them while she feeds him. The condition, which is said to affect one in 50,000 pregnancies, arises when antibodies that normally protect the placenta become confused and attack the skin, causing blisters to form.
Fortunately, a month after doctors treated her allergy using strong steroids, Mackie finally was able to hold her baby without feeling any pain.
Pemphigoid gestationis often appears in pregnancy during the second or third trimester and/or immediately after birth. It is usually treated with a course of corticosteroids like prednisone.
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