LONDON: Pregnant women can suffer from various ailments and physical ailments during pregnancy. Some of them are formed only during pregnancy. It is also found in newborns, including skin diseases. But Fiona Hooker, 32, has been diagnosed with a rare disease in which the mother is allergic to her own baby. Fiona is a native of Hampshire, England.

Doctors have diagnosed her with a rare autoimmune skin condition called Pemphigoid Gestationis, which is related to pregnancy. This results in thickening and scarring of the skin, which causes severe pain along with severe itching. Fiona says she feels pain even when she holds the baby in her arms.

Experts say the mother's disease is caused by a genetics in the baby's DNA. At 31 weeks of gestation, Fiona noticed red spots and itching around her abdomen. Later it started to get worse. After childbirth, it turned into painful lumps. "Even taking the baby for a while can be very painful," she said. Fiona uses the strongest steroid cream in medicine, as prescribed by a dermatologist.