What to do When You Have an Epilepsy Seizure While Holding Your Baby

Two months after my granddaughter was born, my daughter, who had an episode with epilepsy and grand mal seizures when she was nine, started convulsing out of the blue. My daughter had been seizure free for over ten years. She was holding her baby at the time. Luckily she was sitting down.

She was visiting at the time, so she screamed out for help the moment that she realized what was happening. By the time I entered from the kitchen to the living room she had gone into a full grand mal seizure. I of course grabbed the baby out of her arms and laid my granddaughter in a safe place.

It seemed like forever before my daughter started to come out of her seizure. She appeared to be extremely disoriented so I called 911 to get her to the hospital.

There were no signs or symptoms that this was going to happen. We were all shocked that the seizure had occurred out of the blue. My daughter had been seizure free for over ten years with no expectations that the seizures would ever return. But they did return. Later we found out that this is not an unusual occurrence from someone who has had previous seizure disorders.

My daughter was immediately place on a epilepsy drug called Dilantin, to control any further seizures. She was given a CAT scan and nothing showed. No explanations.

Needless to say this gripped her life with terror. My daughter felt she could never be left alone with her baby. Every time she even held her baby, she feared she could go into a convulsion at any time. She could not even get up in the middle of the night alone to tend to her baby. At the time when most parents are bounding and enjoying their newborn baby, this time was clouded by the unknown of my daughter's epilepsy.

Thanks to the Epilepsy Foundation at epilesyfoundation.org, we found some help. There was so much information to assist to our specific needs. The tips that were offered and the understanding at why the seizures all of the sudden reappeared were extremely helpful and reassuring.

It seems that many women after giving birth, with prior seizure disorders, go through a period called the postpartum period when seizures are more often to occur. The body has been put through a great deal of stress with labor and birthing. Mothers are naturally more anxious and tired. Plus the hormonal levels of a women's body is going through multiple changes. This definitely helped to explain the why.

The next issue was how to function on a day to day level living with epilepsy and caring for an infant. The Epilepsy Foundation also had information on this.

When changing baby, change them on the floor or if you are using a changing table make sure the baby is always strapped on.
When feeding baby strap them in an infant car seat or on a pillow on your lap.

With grand mal seizures you should never walk around with your baby in your arms. You can however use a cloth front baby carrier. Just make sure there are no risks of falling forward should a seizure reoccur.

Do not bathe your baby alone.

Never hold your baby while cooking, ironing or carrying hot liquids.

Follow the advice of your doctor closely. Get as much rest as possible and make sure you are getting your blood levels tested to be assured that the dose of medication is adequate.

After a round six months of being totally seizure free, finally everyone was able to sort of take a sigh of relief. It appeared that the epilepsy drug my daughter was on was working.