Gestational thrombocytopenia

Gestational (incidental) thrombocytopenia is a condition that commonly affects pregnant women. Thrombocytopenia is defined as the drop in platelet count from the normal range of 150,000–400,000/μL to a count lower than 150,000/μL.^[1] There is still ongoing research to determine the reason for the lowering of platelet count in women with a normal pregnancy. Some researchers speculate the cause to be dependent on dilution, decreased production of platelets, or an increased turnover event.^[2] Although women with normal pregnancy experience a low platelet count, women experiencing a continuous drop in platelet will be diagnosed with thrombocytopenia and women with levels greater than 70,000/μL will be diagnosed with gestational thrombocytopenia.^[2]

Thrombocytopenia affects approximately 7–10% of pregnant women and of the 7–10%, within that population; approximately 70–80% have gestational thrombocytopenia ^[3]

Gestational thrombocytopenia is a disorder similar to immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and is difficult to differentiate between the two disorders.^[2] Therefore, a medical history is conducted to because a diagnostic test is unavailable.^[2]