How can women with epilepsy get pregnant safely?

What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a chronic disease of the nervous system with recurrent attacks and each attack is short-lived. For many female epilepsy patients, whether they can give birth to normal children is a deep concern for them and their families. Can I have a baby? Can I have a healthy child? The instructions for anti-epileptic drugs clearly state the adverse records on the development of the fetus and infants, and the biased understanding makes many patients terrified. Indeed, epileptic seizures or taking anti-epileptic drugs can affect women's menstrual cycles, fertility, breastfeeding, etc., and may increase the potential risk of adverse events such as miscarriage, congenital malformations of the fetus, intrauterine growth restriction of the fetus, delivery hemorrhage, and restricted infant development. However, it is not an unattainable dream for female patients taking anti-epileptic drugs to have a safe pregnancy and healthy childbirth.

Epilepsy is not a scourge. With standardized and rational medication, 70% to 80% of patients can control their seizures, and 60% to 70% of them can stop taking medication after 2 to 5 years of treatment. What should female patients pay attention to if they want to get pregnant safely?

1. Before pregnancy, consult an epilepsy specialist, obstetrician, and clinical pharmacist to confirm whether the current pregnancy is suitable. Before pregnancy, it is best to have no epileptic seizures for at least six months. If there have been no seizures in the past two to three years and the EEG is normal, after understanding the impact of epilepsy recurrence on the pregnant mother and fetus, you can consider gradually stopping the medication after weighing the pros and cons; otherwise, a comprehensive assessment of the condition should be conducted to select the best treatment plan.

2. Optimizing the anti-epileptic regimen For anti-epileptic drugs that have received much attention, the following "four things should be kept in mind": (1) It is best to adjust the usage and dosage of anti-epileptic drugs before conception; (2) Avoid using anti-epileptic drugs such as valproic acid, primidone, and phenobarbital, which have been proven to be teratogenic and affect the development of infants and young children; (3) Adjust anti-epileptic drugs to the lowest effective dose for monotherapy; (4) Monitor the blood concentration of anti-epileptic drugs during pregnancy (once every two months) and after delivery, and adjust the treatment plan in a timely manner according to the blood concentration and epileptic seizure situation.

3. Large doses of folic acid can prevent fetal malformations. Taking 5 mg of folic acid orally every day (normal pregnant women only take 400 to 800 micrograms per day) one month before pregnancy and in the early stages of pregnancy (the first three months of pregnancy) can reduce the risk of congenital malformations in the fetus to a certain extent.

4. Prenatal examinations are important for good parenting and birth. They should not be neglected in any case. Early detection and timely treatment of accidents are the guarantee.

5. A happy mood helps the child to be the hope and future of the family, and the health of the child is the earnest expectation of every mother. Female patients with epilepsy stop taking anti-epileptic drugs on their own to avoid the risks of epilepsy. The panic caused by the seizure and the accidents caused by the seizure may have adverse effects on themselves and the fetus; taking anti-epileptic drugs in a standardized and reasonable manner can easily cope with the inconvenience of pregnancy. Hundreds of thousands of statistics at home and abroad have confirmed that female patients with epilepsy can safely become pregnant and give birth healthily, and there is no difference between them and women who do not take anti-epileptic drugs.