My name is Veronica Taylor, I am the North Carolina Ambassador for ICP Care. I am a wife and mother of 3 beautiful children.

After experiencing multiple losses, my husband and I had a baby boy, Evan, in 2015. He is our rainbow baby and my pregnancy with him was quite normal.  We were so happy to have started a family and couldn’t wait to give Evan a sibling. In mid-2016, while pregnant with our second child, I began to experience severe itching and after many sleepless nights and way too much internet research, I was initially brushed off by my OB and told that my symptoms were a normal part or pregnancy. Thankfully, I had found the ICP Care group on Facebook and at my next visit, I presented the doctor with data from the group and demanded to be tested.

Fortunately, a different OB within my group had experienced Cholestasis during her pregnancy and she became my ally at the practice. Every test and ultrasound were marked with worry, but it was all worth it when our daughter, Lauren, was born healthy and beautiful at 37 weeks. Within the first few days after delivery, I was relieved of the itching, yet the stress of my pregnancy with her was so much that I was almost certain I couldn’t go through it again. 

In January 2018, I discovered I was pregnant with our third child. After Lauren’s pregnancy, I was very aware of the symptoms of cholestasis and began to experience itching at 12 weeks.  I was again brushed off by my OB despite my history of ICP, and this made me decide to switch practices. I was officially diagnosed at 16 weeks. At 36 weeks, Vivian was born via scheduled c section. She spent a little bit of time in the NICU for low blood sugar, but was otherwise very healthy.

After experiencing Cholestasis of pregnancy twice and not knowing anything about ICP beforehand, I now try to inform local moms on social media about the risks of itching during pregnancy.

As an ICP Care Ambassador, I feel that it is very important to educate and empower expectant parents about the symptoms and risks of ICP because it’s still a condition that not many people know about. ICP Care was such an amazing and invaluable resource during both of my ICP pregnancies.