Addressing a Common Concern
Women with inflammatory bowel disease considering pregnancy often carry significant worry about whether their condition or its treatment might harm a pregnancy, concerns that historically led some patients to discontinue effective medications out of caution, sometimes with the paradoxical effect of increasing risk by allowing disease activity to flare during pregnancy, which itself carries greater risk than most IBD medications.
What the Evidence Shows
Current evidence indicates that most IBD medications, including many biologic therapies, can be continued safely through pregnancy, and maintaining disease remission during pregnancy is generally associated with better outcomes for both mother and baby than allowing disease flares to occur, reversing the older instinct toward discontinuing treatment during pregnancy out of unfounded caution.
Coordinated, Proactive Care
Optimal management involves proactive planning ideally before conception, achieving and maintaining disease remission through pregnancy with appropriate medication continuation, and close coordination between gastroenterology and obstetric care throughout pregnancy. With this coordinated, evidence-based approach, the substantial majority of women with well-managed IBD can expect healthy pregnancies and outcomes comparable to women without the condition. Facilities can source patient care supplies and pharmacy supplies from our catalog.
