Family Planning

In the past, studies suggested that women with epilepsy may have a more difficult time getting pregnant than women without epilepsy. This is why it's important to spend time planning for your pregnancy and talking to your healthcare providers about any safety risks.

A study by Dr. Jacqueline French and colleagues was presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, in April 2016.

Study Design

The study was a multi-center, prospective observational study of women with epilepsy (88 women) and a comparison group of healthy control women without epilepsy (109 women), ages 18 to 41 years, who were trying to get pregnant.
The main outcomes that were measured were time to pregnancy after birth control was stopped and also overall proportion of each group that became pregnant.
Results were presented after controlling for differences in age, prior number of pregnancies, body mass index, and race.

Results

There was no difference in overall success of achieving pregnancy.
There was no difference in the time to pregnancy between the groups.
Pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage vs. live birth) were also statistically the same.

Conclusion

Women with epilepsy are just as likely to achieve pregnancy as their peers without epilepsy.

Take home message:

"Don’t worry, plan your family, and discuss those plans with your doctor!"

Reference & Resources

More information on pregnancy and epilepsy will be available soon. For additional resources, visit Epilepsy & Pregnancy Medical Consortium
A Prospective Study of Pregnancy in Women with Epilepsy Seeking Conception (The WEPOD Study) (I5.001); Jacqueline French, Cynthia Harden, Page Pennell, Emilia Bagiella, Evie Andreopoulos, Connie Lau, Stephanie Cornely, Sarah Barnard, and Anne Davis; Neurology April 5, 2016 vol. 86 no. 16 Supplement I5.001
Medication Resources

Authored By:

Kristine Ziemba MD, PhD

Resources

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