Do you know that most women with epilepsy taking anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have healthy pregnancies and give birth to healthy babies? That you may still be able to breastfeed if you take AEDs? Or if you suddenly stop taking your AEDs it will increase your risk of seizures? The aim of these web pages is to give you information about epilepsy, AEDs and pregnancy. We hope it will help you make informed decisions when planning your pregnancy, during pregnancy and after the birth.
You may also like to read The Pregnancy Diaries. These were written by three pregnant women with epilepsy, who shared their feelings about pregnancy. Topics they talked about included how they felt about taking AEDs in pregnancy, how they coped with seizures, and how they managed in labour.
If you have any further questions about epilepsy and having a baby, you could contact an epilepsy adviser on the Epilepsy Helpline, freephone 0808 800 5050 (UK only) or email helpline@epilepsy.org.uk Alternatively, contact your doctor, epilepsy specialist or epilepsy specialist nurse.
In this section
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Introduction
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Epilepsy, periods and fertility
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Planning a baby
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Pregnancy
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Giving birth
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After the birth
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Inheriting epilepsy
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Post-natal depression
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Epilepsy and contraception
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Sources of support in the UK
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How you can help Epilepsy Action
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The Pregnancy Diaries
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Our thanks
Epilepsy Action would like to thank Professor Pamela Crawford, York District Hospital, UK for reviewing this information.
Conflict of interest
Pam Crawford has no conflict of interest to declare.
This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.
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Updated January 2011To be reviewed January 2013
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