Epilepsy and the Pregnant Woman

Pregnancy is a wonderful thing that millions of women experience every year. However for some women it can be one of the hardest and scariest things she will ever do. For every woman who experiences pregnancy it is a scary time, but for women with epilepsy, there is an increased amount of pressure and torment to go through. However happily 90% of women with epilepsy will have a normal, healthy pregnancy and infant. For women who are pregnant and have epilepsy working together with your doctor is highly important to having a healthy and successful pregnancy.

Women who have epilepsy often have fewer children than the most women, one reason being that women with epilepsy generally have a 25-30% lower fertility rate than the average woman. There are many reasons for this, including a greater incidence of menstrual irregularities, and polycystic ovarian disease. These can both cause a lower fertility rate. However women with epilepsy can still have unplanned pregnancies. In fact women who take certain anti-epileptic drugs (AED) may have a greater risk of having an unplanned pregnancy, even if she is taking a hormonal birth control. Certain hormonal birth control methods may fail due to certain anti-epileptic drugs. For example barbiturates may lower the concentration levels of estrogen thus leading to a reduction in effectiveness of the contraceptive medication.

For any woman who is pregnant there are many changes to go through during pregnancy, for example, morning sickness. Unfortunately for women with epilepsy there is an increased chance of suffering from morning sickness plus there is also an increased risk of vaginal bleeding, placental abruption, and preterm labor. On a good note there is NO increased risk of miscarriage in women with epilepsy, than any other woman who is pregnant. In any pregnancy there is a risk of 2-3% of having a infant with birth defects, that risk is increased to 6% in women who have epilepsy and are taking anti-epileptic drugs. Some anti-epileptic drugs have a higher risk of a baby having a neural tube defect such as spina bifida. Medications such as Valproic Acid and Carmazepine can increase these risks. For this reason Doctor's will suggest taking a foliate supplement before and during the pregnancy. Folic acid supplements are used to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in infants. A Doctor will normally recommend a dose of at least 800 micrograms. Even though the risk of having an infant with a birth defect is increased, a mom-to-be with epilepsy should not stop taking or lower their dose of anti-epileptic during their pregnancy, unless instructed by their Doctor. Again it is very important to work with your doctor throughout the pregnancy, and also have regular check-ups to check on anti-epileptic medication levels. During pregnancy the body changes in many ways including weight gain, but also the kidneys may remove anti-epileptic drugs at a faster rate from the body which could decrease your levels, so it is very important to get them checked regularly.

90% of women who have epilepsy will have a healthy, and normal pregnancy and infant. But for many women who have epilepsy one of the first questions on their mind is 'Will my baby have epilepsy too?' Yes there is a risk of the infant born to a woman with epilepsy that they will contract epilepsy too, happily the risk is less than 10%. The risk of an infant developing epilepsy from the father is even less.