孕婦不該忽視這一警報信號

The itch often strikes your hands and feet. But it can occur all over-affecting your arms, your legs, even your scalp. And the urge to scratch can be so intense that it keeps you up at night. That's what happened to Christina DePino, 28. A few months into her pregnancy, her skin was scabbed and bleeding from all the scratching, she told CBS News.

孕婦可能總是感到手癢腳癢。但當全身都癢時--手臂、腿甚至是頭皮癢，你會剋制不住地想要抓癢，整夜難以入眠。28歲的克里斯蒂娜·德皮諾就遇到了這種事。懷孕幾個月後，由於抓癢，她的皮膚開始流血結痂，她在接受哥倫比亞廣播公司的採訪時說道。

DePino says she initially attributed the itching to her skin stretching from pregnancy, as well as her recent move to a drier climate, from Louisiana to Michigan. But after venting about the issue on Facebook, friends came up with a possible cause: intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP).

德皮諾說，她一開始以爲皮膚癢是由於孕期皮膚拉伸引起的，而且那時候她剛從路易斯安娜州搬到了密歇根州，氣候更爲乾燥也可能造成了瘙癢。但自從在臉書上發佈這一問題之後，她的好友提出了造成該問題的可能原因：妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症。

ICP refers to a group of liver disorders, all of which lead to a buildup of bile in the blood. While ICP most often occurs in the third trimester, it can show up as early as eight weeks into pregnancy. It's caused by a combination of genetics and elevated levels of progesterone and estrogen, which interfere with your liver's ability to function.

妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症指的是一組肝臟疾病，正是這些疾病導致了血液中膽汁的淤積。雖然妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症通常發生在妊娠晚期，但也可能在懷孕八週時顯現。這是由於遺傳和孕激素以及雌激素水平的升高引起的，升高的激素水平干擾了肝臟的功能。

The most common symptom of ICP? Itching. It can range from moderate to severe, as in the case of DePino, who was officially diagnosed with ICP at 36 weeks pregnant. "My doctor explained that while not all the reasons are understood, after 37 weeks, patients with ICP are at a very high risk of having a stillborn," DePino told CBS News. "He also explained that induction was still my choice, as it is possible to carry a baby to full term and not have a stillborn."

妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症的最常見症狀？那就是瘙癢。以德皮諾爲例，瘙癢程度不一，從中度到重度都有，她在懷孕36周時被確診爲患有妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症。"我的醫生解釋道，雖然目前我們不能理解全部的原因，但懷孕37周後，對患有妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症的病人而言，她們的小孩兒極有可能夭折，"德皮諾對哥倫比亞廣播公司說道。"醫生還解釋說，我還可以選擇催產，因爲懷胎十月並且寶寶不會夭折的可能性還是存在的。"

DePino opted to be induced and ultimately gave birth to a healthy baby girl a week after learning she had ICP. Since then, she has taken to Facebook again, this time to issue her own warning about the condition. "If you're pregnant and you're itching REALLY bad, don't ignore it!" she wrote in her post. "A simple blood test could save your baby's life."

德皮諾在得知患有妊娠期肝內膽汁淤積症的一週後選擇了催產，最終生了個健康的女娃娃。自那以後，她又玩起了臉書，這一次她發佈了自己對這一症狀的警告。"如果你懷孕了，並且瘙癢難耐，請千萬不要小看這一點！"她在自己的臉書上寫道。"一次簡單的血液檢查就可以挽救寶寶的生命。"