Good News On Pregnancy And Multiple Sclerosis

What is multiple sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis, which is otherwise termed as MS, is actually an autoimmune disorder that mainly affects the central nervous system. This debilitating disease commonly affects females who are in their childbearing years.

This means that certain issues are regarded significantly in relation to their disease, such as conception, getting pregnant and delivery of the baby.

Some research findings show that pregnancy has both clinical and immunological effects in the disease process of multiple sclerosis. Also, there are data that discuss the efficacy and the safety of treatments aimed at immuno-modulating cases of MS. And, symptomatic therapies for lactating women and pregnant women are also included. Furthermore, the research also includes management modalities for multiple sclerosis during the duration of the pregnancy.

The good news

Having multiple sclerosis can be such bad news, since this disease is not only debilitating but it is also an autoimmune disorder. However, with this bad news comes good news. The good news is that pregnancy is not at all a problem when it comes to MS. In fact, research findings actually think it is quite beneficial. With this said, multiple sclerotic women do not have to be afraid of getting pregnant.

The only bad thing that could happen when pregnancy and multiple sclerosis happens together is that they just tend to have a bigger possibility in having caesarean deliveries and slow prenatal development, as compared to those who do not have MS.

But the advantage is such a big advantage because pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are no longer at risk for pre-eclampsia, other hypertensive pregnancy problems and a premature rupture of the membranes.

About the study

The study that was done made use of a national database that is usually utilized in nonfederal and short-stay hospitals in approximately thirty-eight states in the United States. There were an estimated total of eighteen million births, and that ten thousand of those who gave birth have multiple sclerosis.

An expert from the Stanford University School of Medicine named Eliza Chakravarty say that the results of the mentioned study are beneficial for females who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They have shown that having multiple sclerosis during pregnancy does not increase the risk of acquiring pregnancy-related complications.

Many physicians have actually been uncertain about the many effects of MS on different conditions of patients. In this case, they were hesitant whether or not a person with MS can have a child. It was because of this uncertainty that doctors advised their female patients to delay or avoid getting pregnant, when they actually did not have to.

What medications to avoid

Female persons who have multiple sclerosis who have a desire to become pregnant just need to know that there are particular drugs that are able to treat MS but should be avoided at all costs during pregnancy and during lactation. Such drugs can be the causative factors for many kinds of birth defects that can be transmitted to the fetus via blood and to the infant via the colostrum found in breast milk.