Ask a Neurologist

07.10.2008 - pregnancy

Question:: i’ve had rrms since 1993 had a beautiful baby girl 2 yrs ago, now would like to have another. Have dicontinued copaxone due to the fact that it only slows ms down a bit and i’m gonna get worse irregardless. Postpartum was a pain but i survived no worse for wear, would it b ok if i had another child? i’m on provigil& baclofen 3 times a day. my neuro is kinda unclear on what he suggests. i have 20 lesions, don’t know how many are active or new, but i haven’t developed any further disability. i guess i just want to know how much having another baby is going to effect me! thanks
Reply:: It has been shown that pregnancy has no influence at all on your course of Multiple Sclerosis. So there is nothing against having a second child. The only thing you should be aware of is whether you can take care of a second child with a disease as Multiple Sclerosis. You certainly will realize that 2 children are more difficult to handle than 1 single child. If you expect a second child, you could discuss with your neurologist to use gammaglobulin (Baxter) in the six months after delivery (every 3 weeks 25 gram intravenously). Then you could start an immuno-modulating drugs like bèta-interferons or the therapy you used in the past. These therapies are not a cure against MS but they significantly delay the disease progression. The last trimester of you pregnancy usually protects against new relapses of MS.
Consultant:: Dr. E.A.C.M. Sanders, neurologist