Planning a baby - pregnancy

Once you are pregnant

Many women will not experience a change to their seizure frequency during pregnancy. However, some women will have fewer seizures and around a third will have more seizures. It is important that a doctor experienced in treating women with epilepsy carefully monitors anti-epileptic drug (AED) levels during pregnancy because the AED levels may decrease and the dosage may need to be increased. This is to ensure that you are as seizure-free as possible during both pregnancy and labour. It is unlikely that increasing your AEDs in later stages of pregnancy will cause any increased risks for the developing baby.

Current evidence suggests that unborn babies are only very rarely harmed by their mothers' seizures, unless the mother falls and injures the baby. For this reason, it is a good idea to aim to have as few seizures as possible during pregnancy.

UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register

If you live in the UK, have epilepsy and are pregnant, you can help other women by increasing research into epilepsy and pregnancy by joining the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register.

This was set up to track women with epilepsy through pregnancy and after the birth to find out which AEDs are the safest during pregnancy. The staff at the Register can also offer advice if you have any questions about pregnancy and epilepsy.

For more information about the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register, telephone 0800 389 1248.

25 October 2006