S'pore woman, 41, who just gave birth, in ICU with rare liver disease, seeking donor

It was the day she gave birth to a son.

Yet a Singaporean woman, surnamed Ho, 41, couldn't celebrate the occasion on Jan. 20 as her liver and kidneys started failing, and she was diagnosed with a rare life-threatening liver disease.

Ho, who is currently intubated and under heavy sedation in the intensive care unit (ICU), hasn't yet had the chance to hold her newborn son.

Her family is urgently searching for a suitable liver donor.

Gave birth at 34 weeks due to complications

Speaking to Mothership, Ho's husband said his wife was initially expected to give birth to a boy — their second child — on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.

However, she had to opt for an emergency C-section at the 34-week mark due to complications in the pregnancy.

Two weeks ago, Ho had developed high blood pressure and was hospitalised at the National University Hospital (NUH) for observation.

Ho's condition appeared to have stabilised by Jan. 20.

She and her husband were even discussing what they would do after she was discharged, and had planned to take leave over the Chinese New Year period.

However, that same afternoon, Ho's blood pressure shot up again and she was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication that can cause damage to multiple organs.

Doctors recommended that Ho undergo an emergency C-section to deliver the baby, as this would typically relieve the symptoms.

Ho did so and delivered their baby boy at 5:45pm on Jan. 20.

The boy weighed in at about 1.6kg.

"She was dizzy and weak. When I spoke to her, she complained about gastric and back pain and asked for painkillers," Ho's husband said, following his wife's delivery.

They both thought the worst was over.

Rare liver disease came as a 'shock'

However, the mother would not get to hold her newborn son.

When it was past midnight on Jan. 21, Ho's condition unexpectedly deteriorated while she was in a high-dependency ward, with her liver and both kidneys failing.

Doctors rushed her to the ICU, where she was administered dialysis and hooked up to a breathing tube.

Ho was diagnosed with acute fatty liver during pregnancy, a life-threatening liver condition.

Her husband said he heard from doctors that it was a "one in 10,000" case.

Patients would typically experience a spike in liver enzymes that causes other organs to deteriorate rapidly, and might also suffer from complications like swelling in the brain, glaucoma and stroke.

"It definitely came as a shock to us. It's an extremely rare disease, and we don't understand how she got it," said Ho's husband.

Ho has no family history of liver disease, he added.

Following the diagnosis, the family agreed for Ho to be fully sedated and placed on life support to allow her condition to stabilise.

Family searching for suitable liver donor

Doctors said Ho's condition is still volatile.

Her organs might recover on their own, but might also deteriorate without warning.

The family is now searching for a suitable liver donor to prepare for the worst-case scenario, where she will need urgent liver transplant surgery.

The donor should be a healthy individual aged 21 to 50 years old, weighing at least 60kg, with a blood type of either O or B, said Ho's husband.

However, Ho's husband isn't compatible as his blood type doesn't match hers.

Ho's brother and sister-in-law have also been screened and were deemed incompatible.

Ho's friends and family have since made urgent appeals through social media for prospective liver donors.

Prospective donors need to undergo a physical examination, and will only know the results after one to two days, Ho's husband said.

He added that two people have since come forward to be screened, and are awaiting their test results.

Prospective donors can approach the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation (NUCOT) at NUH for assessment or submit an enquiry via email ([email protected]).

Top image via Ho's husband