Giving birth

• Seizures during labour
• Pain relief during labour
• Vitamin K

Seizures during labour

In the UK, your doctor will probably advise you to have your baby in hospital. This is to make sure that a doctor can care for you and your baby, if you have a seizure during labour. The risk of having a seizure in labour is small. For every 100 women with epilepsy in labour, only one or two have a seizure. If you have a seizure during labour, it won’t necessarily mean that you will need to have a caesarean section (C-section). If the health of you and your baby is fine, you may still be able to have a normal delivery.

There are things you can do to lower your risk of having a seizure in labour. For example, take your own anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) to the hospital with you, and take them at your usual time. You could ask your midwife or your birth partner to make sure that you take your AEDs at the right time, during labour.

If you are worried about having a seizure during labour, talk to your doctor. They may be able to reassure you about your seizure risk in labour. If you have had seizures in pregnancy, your doctor could give you another AED to take as well as your own AEDs during labour. This could make a seizure less likely.

Pain relief during labour

Women with epilepsy can use pain relief during labour. There are some important things to remember.

• Breathing exercises and gas and air can help you manage pain in labour. But you should be careful not to over-breathe. Over-breathing can trigger some people’s seizures. 
• If you have an epidural anaesthetic, tell your anaesthetist that you have epilepsy and which anti-epileptic drugs you take.
• High doses of pethidine have triggered seizures in some people. For this reason, you may be advised not to use pethidine.
• TENS machines are often used for pain relief during labour. These are perfectly suitable for you if you have epilepsy.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is important for making our blood clot. A very small number of babies are born without enough vitamin K in their body. This can cause them to bleed in different parts of their body, any time in the first few weeks of life. For example, they could bleed from their nose, mouth or bottom. They may also have bleeding in their brain. Bleeding in newborn babies can be very serious and can cause brain damage and even death. This is why all babies are given vitamin K shortly after birth. This can be given by mouth, or by injection.

It is not clear whether taking anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy may lower the amount of vitamin K in your baby. However, your doctor will advise that an injection of vitamin K is given to your baby at birth.