What I Wish I Knew About NAFLD and Pregnancy

“You were pregnant while having NAFLD? How?”

I’m amazed by the frequency of this question being asked in some way, shape, or form. I have talked before about how I felt as though my diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was kind of “brushed off” by my gastroenterologist. It is something that never sat well with me. It led me to have to self-educate on all things liver health, NAFLD, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), hepatic steatosis, fibrosis, etc.

My doctor seemed to conveniently omit the fact that having a fatty liver can potentially increase the risk of complications… not just for the mother, but also for the baby. It’s something that I never even considered; how was I to know? In fact, if it weren’t for the comments I was receiving on my social media platforms, the connection between a fatty liver and pregnancy would have never crossed my mind.

The double-edged sword of not knowing

It is both a blessing and a curse that I didn’t find out about these risks until after both of my pregnancies had ended (healthily, thankfully). Why a blessing? Because it was one less stress for me to have to maneuver during my 9 months of growing a life. Why a curse? I was absolutely blind to a situation that could have potentially brought harm to myself and my baby.

I started questioning everything: is that why I failed the first gestational diabetes test, only to have to have the 3-hour test done? (I passed). Is this why I had a month of low amniotic fluid? Is this why, at a couple of my appointments, my usually perfect blood pressure was reading abnormally high for me? Things that I experienced that could have thousands of other explanations as to why they happened… could have also simply been from my NAFLD.

Understanding the risks of NAFLD during pregnancy

According to a study by the University of California, San Francisco, “pregnant women with the metabolic condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have more than four times the risk of serious adverse maternal-fetal outcomes, such as hypertensive complications, bleeding after delivery, and pre-term birth.”¹

I do not share this information to scare anyone, but to raise awareness among others so that they are informed and in tune with their bodies as they prepare to start a family. Having nonalcoholic fatty liver disease while pregnant is a significant consideration. It’s something that I wish I had known, simply so that I could have received some counseling on how to maneuver the risks and manage the potential side effects.