Giving birth - labour and delivery

Providing you and your baby are well, your epilepsy should not prevent you from having a normal labour and delivery. You will generally be advised to have your baby in hospital where doctors and midwives can ensure that you are well looked after and your baby has a safe delivery.

Remember to take your anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) to the hospital with you and take them at the usual time, even during labour. You could ask your midwife or companion to help you to remember to take your medication at the right time.

Pain relief

TENS machines are often used for pain relief during labour and these are perfectly suitable for you if you have epilepsy.

An epidural anaesthetic can provide pain relief. However, it is important that the anaesthetist who gives you this knows that you have epilepsy and which anti-epileptic drugs you are taking (if any).

Gas and air is safe, so long as you do not over-breathe when you are using it, as over-breathing can trigger seizures in some people.

Pethidine is not recommended if you have epilepsy, as it can make seizures more likely.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is important for making our blood clot. A very small number of babies don’t have enough vitamin K in their body when they are born. This can cause them to bleed in different parts of their body, any time in the first few weeks of life. For example, they may have nose or mouth bleeds, or start to bleed from their umbilical stump or their 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.

When a newborn baby doesn’t have enough vitamin K, it is called vitamin K deficiency. This is a rare disease, but it can be prevented by giving the baby extra vitamin K shortly after birth, either by an injection or by mouth. If you take an enzyme-inducing drug (carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone or topiramate) when you are pregnant, your baby may be at a higher risk of having vitamin K deficiency. To prevent this, it is recommended that your baby should have an injection of one milligram of vitamin K at birth. Some doctors also recommend that you should take 10-20 mg of vitamin K, by mouth, every day in the last month of your pregnancy. Your midwife or obstetrician will be able to tell you more about this.
 

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