MS Need Not Preclude Pregnancy
Tick
Study finds complications no greater overall than for other women
-- Randy Dotinga
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that
having multiple sclerosis puts pregnant women at slightly higher risk
for giving birth via cesarean deliveries or having babies that grow at
a slower rate in the womb.
But the researchers, whose findings were published online Nov. 18 in
Neurology, also reported that pregnant women with MS were not more
likely than other women to develop such conditions as preeclampsia or
premature rupture of membranes.
The findings came from an examination of a national database that
included details on about 18.8 million childbirths in 38 states,
including deliveries by an estimated 10,000 women with MS.
The two groups of pregnant women differed somewhat. Those with MS were
more likely than those without chronic medical conditions to have
fetuses that suffered from restricted growth, as defined by weight
measured through ultrasound. Among women with MS, 2.7 percent had
fetuses in that category, compared with 1.9 percent of other women.
Women with MS were also more likely to have a cesarean delivery: 42
percent had a c-section, compared with 33 percent of other women.
However, the study found that women with MS had lower pregnancy
complication rates than did women who had diabetes before becoming
pregnant.
"These results are reassuring for women with MS," study author Dr.
Eliza Chakravarty. of Stanford University School of Medicine. said in
a news release from the American Academy of Neurology.
"Women and their doctors have been uncertain about the effect of MS on
pregnancy, and some women have chosen to delay or even avoid pregnancy
due to the uncertainty," Chakravarty said. "We found that women with
MS did not have an increased risk of most pregnancy complications."
Susan Esterby
Pregnancy puts the immune system on the back burner so the body doesn't
reject the fetus (foreign object). It's only after the birth, when the
immune system comes back to full capacity, that the woman is at risk for
a major MS relapse. And, then, there's the chance that the child will
also develop MS.
Tricky business. I chose to not participate.
Susan E.
Valentina
> From what I've read, pregnancy is often a great time for women w/MS.
> Pregnancy puts the immune system on the back burner so the body doesn't
> reject the fetus (foreign object). It's only after the birth, when the
> immune system comes back to full capacity, that the woman is at risk for
> a major MS relapse. And, then, there's the chance that the child will
> also develop MS.
I had a babyboy just 4 years ago. I had a relapse of MS in the third
trimester... I had to receive steroids with my big tummy...
After the delivery I had no relapses untile the seventh month.
--
Valentina, from Florence, Italy