Suzie ... I never heard of HELLP syndrome ... so I looked it up Sounds like it is very prevalent in 10% of those pregnant HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening complication of pre-eclampsia. Both conditions occur during the latter stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth. HELLP is an abbreviation of the main findings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HELLP_syndrome Is the Low Platelet count from something autoimmune? .... like: ITP is the destruction of "thrombocytes" (clotting cells) by the immune system in much the same manner as RBCs are destroyed in AIHA | Clinical signs of this disease include bruising; excessive bleeding following trauma, at surgery, or during estrus; or blood in the urine or stool. Before ITP can be diagnosed, many more common diseases must be ruled out. These include, but are not limited to, warfarin poisoning, various clotting disorders (hemophilia, Von Willebrand's disease), bladder or prostate infection or cancer, and intestinal parasites. A CBC, platelet count, and clotting profile are needed. A bone marrow biopsy is helpful as well, and a Coomb's test may be run if other autoimmune diseases are suspected. Transfusion of fresh whole blood or of platelet-rich plasma can be helpful in ITP Source | The primary thing that 2-butoxyethanol causes is hemolytic anemia: I suspect autoimmune hemoltyic anemia. If you looked at what the possible exposures to this chemical might be (for you, for your husband, for your sets of parent) ... you might very well find exposure to this chemical. There must be something hormonal that triggers this ... certainly there are hormonal abnormalities (high or low) with exposure to 2-butoxyethanol... and in pregnancy. A person could have no background of exposure to this chemical as it is very easy to get exposed ... seriously exposed today. However, it is also very probably that many of us have a parent or grand parent that was poisoned by it during military service (though not recognized) ... or in the industry that was going on then & now. I wish every mom would take glyconutrients along with the good nutrition they are encouraged. It seems to help the immune system function properly ... and we are in desperate need of that Remove the exposure, though, and you can go back to normal ... hemolytic anemia can appear and then disappear. One gulf war vet shared such ... & if he had known what chemical to avoid, he might very well have lived a normal life. This is his post that I found & saved before it was to be deleted: Body Destroying Red Blood Cells |