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Epilepsy, pregnancy and giving birth
Mon, 01/21/2008 - 10:14Good morning,
I am very curious to hear the experience of women while they were pregnant, and during labor & birth of a child.
How did the pain, stress affect your epilepsy, and was it easy to manage seazures? I am trying to figure out how to deal with the actual birth process, and I am seriously considering a c-cection, where I would like to be under total anesteshia. I would love to go through the natural birth, no epidural or pain med, but I am worried that the pain of labor will give me seizures. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, I am not taking any meds for epilepsy, as my seizures are only about once a year...and I know the trigger, so I avoid doing things that I know could trigger the seizure.
Thank you all so much,
Sonja C.
Comments
Re: Epilepsy, pregnancy and giving birth
Submitted by dawnnie on Sun, 2008-10-26 - 18:18
I have had 3 children. All 3 pregnacies were different.
During the first, I had absolutly no problems at all. My ob took many precautions. I was on semi-bedrest for the last 2 months. The second was a little harder and I did have some seizures, but they weren't too bad. For this birth, I did not have an epidural, unlike the other two.
My third was the worst. I had more seizures than ever before. I even ended up in the hospital in and out of a coma. I went into status-epileptus. The doctors did not think I would make it through the night. I din't keep up with my ep.dr. like I should've. She didn't seem to care and did not think that the pregnancy was a big deal. Needless to say, the hospital gave me a different dr. If I would've had a different ep.dr., this might not of happened.
All three births were normal w/o any complications due to the epilepsy.
As long as you keep in touch with your drs. everything should be fine. Make sure your dr. knows that you are high risk and that special precautions need to be taken. I had to see my ob. more often than what you would if you didn't have seizures and take extra vitamens. Folic acid is a big one. I did not get taken off of any of my meds. Except for my third kid, all are normal. The last might have epilepsy though and my other two were tested and all seems to be normal.
Good luck.
I have had 3 children. All 3 pregnacies were different.
During the first, I had absolutly no problems at all. My ob took many precautions. I was on semi-bedrest for the last 2 months. The second was a little harder and I did have some seizures, but they weren't too bad. For this birth, I did not have an epidural, unlike the other two.
My third was the worst. I had more seizures than ever before. I even ended up in the hospital in and out of a coma. I went into status-epileptus. The doctors did not think I would make it through the night. I din't keep up with my ep.dr. like I should've. She didn't seem to care and did not think that the pregnancy was a big deal. Needless to say, the hospital gave me a different dr. If I would've had a different ep.dr., this might not of happened.
All three births were normal w/o any complications due to the epilepsy.
As long as you keep in touch with your drs. everything should be fine. Make sure your dr. knows that you are high risk and that special precautions need to be taken. I had to see my ob. more often than what you would if you didn't have seizures and take extra vitamens. Folic acid is a big one. I did not get taken off of any of my meds. Except for my third kid, all are normal. The last might have epilepsy though and my other two were tested and all seems to be normal.
Good luck.
c-cection and epilepsy
Submitted by lyzolari on Sat, 2010-01-16 - 15:33
Hi Ladies,
I disagree with the idea of having a c-section as a "rule - to be safe" UNLESS there is medical necessity. All of the epilepsy literature states this. I am not a doctor, just a mother who has done a lot of reading on this subject and who went through an experience where the MDs were trying to convince me to do a c-section because they were afraid of a "just in case" scenario that had a less than 5% chance.I did not opt for a c-section. I had seizures during labor, but I was ok. In the end I had a c-section due to a non-epilepsy related issue, but that was after 10 hrs of labor without an epidural. My best advice is to give birth in a place that has a good nic-U in case there are problems with the baby and where their is a good grp of epilepsy specialists in case you have problems. Go natural, unless like me your body requires a little help.
During labor, if you start to have seizures that would put the baby and//or you in danger, defintiely a c-section is necessary. But it should not be used a routine method of delivery. In my experience, when i was in labor, at the start I had some seizures and as my labor progressed my seizures stopped. Seizures behave in unpredictable ways. Just be and act smart, not afraid.
Please do your homework and google your questions, you will find a ton of info this subject. C-sections have been overused and they are not risk-free.
Hi Ladies,
I disagree with the idea of having a c-section as a "rule - to be safe" UNLESS there is medical necessity. All of the epilepsy literature states this. I am not a doctor, just a mother who has done a lot of reading on this subject and who went through an experience where the MDs were trying to convince me to do a c-section because they were afraid of a "just in case" scenario that had a less than 5% chance.I did not opt for a c-section. I had seizures during labor, but I was ok. In the end I had a c-section due to a non-epilepsy related issue, but that was after 10 hrs of labor without an epidural. My best advice is to give birth in a place that has a good nic-U in case there are problems with the baby and where their is a good grp of epilepsy specialists in case you have problems. Go natural, unless like me your body requires a little help.
During labor, if you start to have seizures that would put the baby and//or you in danger, defintiely a c-section is necessary. But it should not be used a routine method of delivery. In my experience, when i was in labor, at the start I had some seizures and as my labor progressed my seizures stopped. Seizures behave in unpredictable ways. Just be and act smart, not afraid.
Please do your homework and google your questions, you will find a ton of info this subject. C-sections have been overused and they are not risk-free.