Contrary to an old belief, in most cases, patients with multiple sclerosis live a pregnancy without any particular problem.
- The female predominance in multiple sclerosis, which affects approximately 110,000 people in France, reaches 70 to 75%
- The disease that often strikes women of childbearing age is not incompatible with a normal pregnancy
“Pregnancy in a woman with multiple sclerosis? It is highly contraindicated!“This is a belief that has for a very long time held back the desires of motherhood of patients with MS. It is now swept away by a new certainty: “Many studies show that this does not pose any particular problem, the pregnancy of a woman with multiple sclerosis is a normal pregnancy!“, says Professor Sandra Vukuzic, neurologist, head of service at the Lyon University Hospital.
Decreased immunity during pregnancy
Science has indeed been quick to produce proof of an obvious phenomenon: multiple sclerosis being an autoimmune disease (a dysfunction of the immune system which turns against myelin, the sheath that protects the fibers by which pass nerve impulses), the natural decline in a woman’s immunity during pregnancy reduces the risk of disease flare-ups, as explained by Professor Jérôme de Séze, neurologist at the University Hospital of Strasbourg.
Nevertheless, as Professor Vukuzic remarks, “the maternity project is very quickly questioned by the patients when the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is made“And since this disease affects many women in the age brackets between 30 and 40 where they wish to have children,”this is an important question“, notes the neurologist.
No difference with the pregnancy of a normal woman
Its purpose is therefore to reassure: “A pregnancy for a patient with MS presents no difference with that of a woman who does not have this disease, the obstetric follow-up is absolutely the same, there are no more complications nor for the course of the pregnancy. nor for the baby“. The only reservation, and here again it is linked to the impact of motherhood on the functioning of the woman’s immune system, in the first months following childbirth there may be an acceleration in the evolution of the sickness. “But we have treatments that can prevent this episode“, specifies Sandra Vukuzic.
On the other hand, planning a pregnancy when you have MS requires some anticipation. Indeed, some treatments that slow down the progression of the disease are incompatible with pregnancy. “It is then necessary to consider stopping them and changing them to another compatible treatment.“, indicates the neurologist.
MS is not a genetic disease
And then, of course, who says motherhood for a woman with a chronic disease says fears of transmission of this disease to her child. “MS is not a genetic disease but genetics can generate a ground at risk, not of MS but of developing any autoimmune disease.“, recalls Sandra Vukuzic. This risk has been measured with precision: that of being affected by MS is 1 in 1,000, it rises to 2 or 3% if a parent is himself affected by the disease.
