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.