What should I know about Crohn's and pregnancy?

Hi!  I am 30 years old and have had crohn's for 10 years.  I have three children and they are 6, 4, and 8 months.  I had a few thoughts that might be helpful for you and your husband as you try and figure all this out.

First, I would check with your gi to make sure he feels like your Crohn's is under control.  Like some women, I felt better then ever regarding my crohns while I was pregnant.  However if you are having a flare you increase your risk for a miscarriage.  Also be sure that you OB is aware of your crohn's.  It is good if they (the OB and GI) can be in contact over the course of your pregnancy, sharing blood work results ect.

The second thing I would talk about would be your remicade schedule.  Remicade does not pass into the placenta until 32-34 weeks.  For my youngest we tried to time my last treatment right around that time and then scheduled a treatment two weeks after she was born.  This ended up working pretty well for us. 

The third thing that I would talk/look into would be breastfeeding.  There are mixed ideas about this on Remicade.  My gi doctor did not feel it was safe.  I did do some research and found a book by Dr Hale, a leading expert on breastfeeding and meds.  Dr Hale's research found that the molecules were too large to pass through the breast milk and he felt that it was safe to breastfeed and nurse.  All that being said, I chose not to nurse.  Thankfully, it turns out that my insurance pays for our formula since I have a medical reason for not being able to.  (I am also on Pentasa which does pass through the bm)  I do know others that did though and had a wonderful nursing experience.  It will just be something that you and your doctors will have to talk about and decide what is best for you all. 

The last thing that I would mention is to be aware of flares after the baby is born.  With all three of my kids right around the two month post baby I began to have a flare.  With my third I was on remicade and it really kept it in check.  Just keep an eye on your body and try to catch things before it gets bad.  It would be terrible to have a bad flare and a newborn at the same time.

All of my babies are happy and healthy.  My son was 9lbs and 22 in, daughter 1 was 7lbs and 20 in, and daughter 2 was 8lbs 21 inches.  The only difficulties I had were with my youngest.  She ended up having a 2 vessel cord.  They monitored her more closely at the end but everything was fine!

Good luck as you start towards this journey of parenting!  It is a blast

Yay aquagirl! I'm so excited for you! Thinking about conceiving and becoming pregnant with a first baby is such an exciting time! I'm currently 17 weeks pregnant with my first baby (a girl!!) and I have had crohn's for about 11 years now. My GI doc and OB are both part of the same hospital and they referred me to the high risk clinic when I became pregnant because of my crohn's. I was a bit unlucky, as far as my crohn's was concerned, with the pregnancy. I was having no trouble at all, and had a crohn's flare in my rectum starting at the end of my first trimester. All of my troubles with my crohn's had been at my terminal ileum, so I really had no idea what was going on, or what to look for. Plus, I had had no trouble with my crohn's for so long, I didn't really think that was what the problem was. I'm currently taking flagyl, augmentin, pentasa, and prednisone to deal with the flare and the abscesses that formed from it. All are said to be safe during pregnancy. My advice is, the closer your GI and OB can be in contact the better. And if you notice any changes at all, even if they seem to be small, make sure to see a doctor right away. I definitely let mine go too long and was not forceful enough about being seen by my doctors. Now that things are under control, I have to say this is the best, most wonderful time in my life! I'm so excited about the baby and I love being pregnant! I think pregnancy and crohn's is completely manageable. My baby looks healthy and all problems were completely treatable! Good luck, I'm so excited for you! Please keep us updated!!!

Congratulations! From what I have read and heard from multiple doctors is encouraging. The general summation of their comments is that if you go into pregnancy not in a flare, the outcome is very favorable and many women have found that they feel the best that they have in years while pregnant. I have also heard that the first 3 months after birth are the time to look for signs of a flare up as this is the most common period for them to come up as your body/hormones/immune system goes through changes since its not supporting a little one any more.

That being said, I had a horrible pregnancy, but I think that had I had the right doctors and been looking for the right signs things would have been much different. In the 5th month I developed bloody BMs and my OBs (multiple ones) said that it was just due to internal hemmds and to check in with a GI doc once I had my baby. Symptoms continued to worsen, went into labor in 30th week, my daughter was born at 32 weeks, 5lbs 6 oz. She spent 5 weeks in the NICU, I was unable to breastfeed. It was until going to the GI doctor and many diagnosese and doctors later that I was diagnosed with Crohns. All of them find it quite odd that I flared, but believe that if I had received the correct medical attention when problems arose that all of this definitely could have been managed with Remicade, Pred, etc so I would like to offer my experience as a worst case scenario in which I still have a beautiful healthy two year old and am finally beginning to show signs of remission.

Best of luck, my husband and I hope to have another some day.

Clarification: I believe that my miscarriage and stillbirth were the result of the antibody issue and not the Crohn's.

I have two perfect post-CD babies -- 2 years, 9 months. I stayed on Pentasa for each and nursed/am still nursing. I can't wait for number 3. With my first I had NO CD issues and felt better than ever (girl). I had some minor flare-like symptoms with my son, but no inflammation ever showed, so it could be a pregnancy difference. Post partum I had mini-flares with each. Both went away with me more carefully taking my meds (it's easy to start skipping when you're busy and tired). Both times I went in already in remission and stayed there.

Good luck to you!

Hi all, I'm just curious about your location and whether OBs are readily willing to take on your pregnancy case (or if you have had a hard time finding someone with experience). I am 25 and was diagnosed last year and had a resection, but I plan to have children in the future. There is a chance that I may be relocating before that (from NYC) and I want to know if I should be concerned about my location as I would like to live in a suburban setting. Thanks!