Pregnancy

[eternalgrace02]

Hello,
My husband and I are going to try to conceive soon. This will be our first pregnancy. Because I have MS, will I automatically be considered a high - risk pregnancy? I was just wondering, as this might affect my choice of doctors.

Thanks!

[onlyairfare]

Having MS, in itself, does not make you high risk. the general consensus seems to be that many women feel better during pregnancy, though some will be more likely to experience relapse post-partum.

You will want to discuss what medications, if any, you use prior to conceiving and during pregnancy. Then there are the questions about the increased risk of your children developing MS because you have it.

Since you are starting to think about this in advance, take the time to talk with you neuro and your OB-GYN about your specific circumstances.

[eternalgrace02]

Thanks! I did discuss pregnancy with my neuro during my last appointment. I just didn't think to ask her this question. Interestingly, she did say that women who have post- partum relapses would have had a relapse even if they weren't pregnant. It's just that the relapse is masked during pregnancy, and rears its ugly head after giving birth. I always thought that the relapse was due to giving birth!

[ttmont416]

I recently discussed getting pregnant for the first time with my ob and she said because I have MS and I am on Copaxone and taking natural meds for fatigue, she said I am high risk, she just referred me to see a high risk pregnancy doctor. I am in the process of making an appointment to see them.

I am glad it's just not me though that I heard I am high risk..

[StrawberryTech]

I find that this varies by how the doctor is trained...I've had 3 pregnancies and each one I had a different set of doctors and there was ZERO consistency. Most helpful to me wast my Naturopath who was familiar with the supplements as well as pregnancy and they were my sounding board. I also worked with a midwife instead of an ob/gyn and I have had one that was comfortable with my supplements and one that was not.

I also was on copaxone through my first pregnancy, though not any of the ones following. My doctor then (ob/gyn) told me to stay on it, my Neuro (for my second pregnancy) was absolutely against being on any of the meds.

It was a very clear lesson to me that doctors are people too and are just doing the best they can. It might be worth shopping around for a doctor/naturopath/midwife that is comfortable working with you!

[lorib]

I saw high risk OBs for both of my pregnancies. There were no complications while I was pregnant or during delivery for either child. I don't remember if my neurologist suggested I see a high risk doctor or how I ended up with those doctors, but I did enjoy the extra ultrasounds.

[tspaulding]

I was pregnant 8 yrs ago for my son, I did not see a high risk doctor. I went off all meds as soon as I thought I was pregnant. Yes I was pregnant, I took pregnancy test.

I saw my PCP who had taken childbirth courses also. I had light bleeding off and on durring pregnancy, ultrasound was good.

He was born at 30 wks and is a happy, handsome, smart, 8 y.o who also has mild autism. I did not have any ms sxs during pregnancy.

Take care and u will do well

I wish you the best,

[StrawberryTech]

Forgot to mention I wasn't ever actually classified as high risk through any of my three pregnancies.

[DonnaD]

This thread is old (pregnancy is only 9 months) but people read old stuff.

I have 5 kids. All born naturally. A year after my 3rd child I had a big flare up and then reallly started going to a serious MS center (I had MS before even the first but that was 26 years ago so people knew less and I was doing OK so I ignored it). So when I was pregnant with my 4th the neuro wanted me to take immunoglobulin for 5 days after the birth. So he made me go to the high risk pregnancy unit. What a waste of time. All those appointments and monitors. My pregnancy was fine. So when I was pregnant with my 5th and the neuro wanted me to go high risk I refused. I needed the neuro for the immunoglobulin after birth. Before birth I only needed a regular OB.

[Kara]

I too had to have immunoglobulin (IVIG) right after my 2nd child was born. I didn't know I had MS when I was pregnant with my first, the symptoms only began to show up when he turned 1 (almost to the day, actually).

Unfortunately my second pregnancy was not without complications, and I ended up being VERY high risk. Although I didn't need my neuro during that time, I did immediately after. I did IVIG once a month for 4 months, and it saved me from having a huge relapse.

I'm glad you had so many successful pregnancies! Very encouraging to those with MS who want to continue having children. Thanks for sharing.