Mums-to-be with multiple sclerosis less likely to suffer complications

Washington, Nov 19 (ANI): A new study has revealed that pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are at a modest risk of suffering complications or having caesarean deliveries.

They are less likely to have preeclampsia and other high blood pressure problems along with premature rupture of membranes, compared to women in the general population.

"These results are reassuring for women with MS," said study author Eliza Chakravarty, MD, MS, of Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, CA.

"Women and their doctors have been uncertain about the effect of MS on pregnancy, and some women have chosen to delay or even avoid pregnancy due to the uncertainty.

"We found that women with MS did not have an increased risk of most pregnancy complications," Chakravarty added.

Chakravarty said that previous studies on MS and pregnancy have focused on the impact of pregnancy on disease activity.

The new study also looked at women who had diabetes prior to becoming pregnant (not gestational diabetes), and found that they had higher rates of complications than women with MS and high rates of complications in areas where the women with MS did not have increased rates.

The study is published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)