Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] Hi.. i would like to state a question about something that has been concerning me for a while. Both me and my partener have thalassemia B trait.. i have heard that this is dangerous for when i want to stay pregnant. Can you please explain to me what exactly the dangers are and what is the procedure i ll have to go through in order to have a healthy child.
[|AI|]  Hello, Beta Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder which can occur in 3 forms major, intermediate and minor. Beta Thalassemia minor is the Beta Thalassemia trait in which the patient is just a carrier of the genetic muted gene and lives almost a normal life. For both couple having this trait then there are25% chances that the baby will be normal, 50% chances of having Beta Thalassemia trait like parents and 25% chances of having Beta Thalassemia major which is a serious condition requiring regular blood transfusions. As in your case you can plan pregnancy keeping few basic things in mind. Get routine blood tests done to know your hemoglobin and iron levels. During pregnancy take daily 5 mg folic acid tablet throughout pregnancy to reduce the chances of having neural tube defects like spine bighead in your baby as beta Thalassemia increases the chance of neural tube defects in the baby. Mother should be healthy all throughout as her body is already under stress due to her disease plus pregnancy adds more stress to different organs for the developing fetus. Between 11-14weeks of pregnancy chorionic villus sampling should be done to know the exact karyotype of the fetus. This test should not be done before 10 weeks as too early a test leads to facial and limb defects in the baby. So have patience. Don't be in a hurry. If the karyotype of the fetus shows minor or intermediate continue pregnancy but if major is present then think of abortion and plan next pregnancy. For the delivery be careful and talk to your obstetrician regarding safe delivery, normal or Caesarion.