Star of Call the Midwife Helen George previously opened up about her struggles related to her Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) diagnosis.
After marrying her husband, fellow actor Oliver Boot, in 2011, the pair called it a day in 2015. A year later, Helen began dating her Call the Midwife co-star Jack Ashton, and welcomed their daughter, Wren Ivy, in 2021, In 2017, the couple had another daughter, Lark. By 2023, however, they announced their split.
Call the Midwife’s Helen George diagnosis after ‘infuriating’ pregnancy
During both of her pregnancies, Helen didn’t have it easy. When she gave birth to her first daughter, Wren, she was diagnosed with Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, a potential liver condition that impacts one in 140 pregnant women in the UK. During her second pregnancy, she had severe anxiety and gave birth to her daughter, Lark, early because of the condition.
The most regular symptom of ICP is severe itching. A premature birth is also common.
After the condition was featured in an episode of Call the Midwife, Helen shared her own experience with the disorder.
“After last night’s final episode of Call the Midwife, it seemed the right time to talk about my experience with Cholestasis in Pregnancy. In 2017 when I gave birth to our daughter Wren, I was diagnosed with this condition,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I knew there was a high chance that I would suffer again with my second pregnancy, but I was under the most incredible specialists/doctors/midwives/health workers at Guys and St Thomas’s. So I felt safe.”
Helen explained that she started “getting the itch” a lot earlier during the second pregnancy, finding it “infuriating”. After trying everything from creams to having baths, she found that nothing would stop the “scratch all day and night”. It started on her hands, shoulders, and feet but increased to “[bleeping] everywhere”.
As a result, she was put on medication (Urso) at around 30 weeks.
‘I thought the second would be easier but it really wasn’t’
As Helen continued to discuss the uncomfortable condition, she explained her bile acids were usually up and down but because of the medication, they were stable. However, the medication did little for the itch and she still had the “urge to scratch myself raw”.
Helen described the pregnancy as “so uncomfortable and painful” and thought the second “would be easier but it really wasn’t”. She was hoping a pre-term birth wasn’t going to be the outcome.
“I started having contractions whilst away but managed to race back to London and my obstetrician. He decided to perform an emergency C-section that day, but I had to cross my legs whilst Jack raced to the hospital…” she continued.
Lark was born prematurely but was healthy. “The relief when we heard her first cry was overwhelming, a release of months of anxiety and the fear that this moment may not play out quite so successfully,” she said.
Helen shared that she was “well looked after” and that the ICP support was there for her “every step of the way”. She urged anyone who thinks they might have the condition to contact them.
The 40-year-old actor insisted that spreading awareness of the condition is “really important to me”. She also expressed how “over the moon” she was for Call the Midwife tackling the subject.
Read more: Call the Midwife unveils first look at Christmas special with shake-up for first time in history
What do you think of this story? Tell us on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.