Good question!
Many, including myself, have, or had no idea what Amniotic Band Syndrome is. I will not get technical in this post but will rather try to explain ABS has been explained to me, or what I have read about it online, etc.
There are two layers to the Amniotic Sac (sac that the baby floats around in and develops in during pregnancy). During the pregnancy, one layer of the sac can tear or rupture; either due to trauma or for no reason at all (I'm sure there is one but maybe I have yet to learn about it?). When the tear repairs itself, bands can form and drop down into the amniotic sac, where the baby is floating around and forming in. These bands are very similar to rubber bands. I was once told by a Mother of a baby with ABS that the bands are very sticky. When the baby is floating around, extremities (fingers, toes, arms, legs, etc.) can become attached to the bands and the bands can wrap around extremities and slowly cut off circulation; sometimes causing amputation. In Kyla's case, a band wrapped around her lower forearm and eventually resulted in full amputation.
ABS is also what causes cleft palate (bands can become swallowed by the baby), and clubfoot.
In Kyla's case we had no idea about her ABS until her birth.
I look at my ultrasound photos and wonder how her arm amputation was not caught in the 4 ultrasounds that I had during my pregnancy. I could not tell that anything was wrong by looking at the ultrasound photos, but I do not have a trained eye, and Kyla is my first baby. I did not know what to look for, or what to expect, or what is routine. Throughout it all, I had a strange intuition that something was going to be wrong with her. I remember being extremely nervous for my first ultrasound at 18 weeks and the relief that I felt after the procedure was over when I asked the ultrasound tech if everything looked good and she said "yes."
I did not realize until just recently that the ultrasound techs cannot their patients anything about their evalutation - good or bad, and are trained to practice their "poker face." It is the doctor's job to deliver news to their patients - news that was not delivered by my first OB/GYN doctor. I eventually switched doctors at 30 weeks gestation, but wonder if my first doctor was aware of the situation, and chose to not tell me, or if he just did not review my ultrasound notes. Dude needed to retire - let's just put it that way! :)
Some of you way wonder, why 4 ultrasounds? I was told that the ultrasounds were needed because of my low weight gain. I gained 10 pounds during my pregnancy, so they wanted to be sure that the baby was okay. She was until the very end, when I found out that my placenta had died. It stopped providing her with the nutrients that she needed to thrieve. Kyla was born weighing 5 lbs. 12.8 ounces and was very healthy!
Amniotic Bands can also become wrapped around the abdomen, head, umbilical cord, etc. and result in miscarriage or stillborns.
