BLANCA VAZQUEZ, MD: Seizures during pregnancy are not welcome. A seizure will put at risk the placenta to have low oxygen levels and low blood flow. If the mother falls or if she has an accident, having a complex seizure, that can also put the baby at risk. So it's very important that, during pregnancy, we are proactive preventing any type of seizures.
ANNOUNCER: Seizures during pregnancy have also been associated with miscarriages.
CYNTHIA HARDEN, MD: This is related either to the trauma of falling during a seizure or to the severe cardiovascular sort of event that it is and that can deprive the placenta of blood and decrease fetal heart rate.
ANNOUNCER: Seizure activity is also largely affected by a woman’s anti-seizure drug regimen. Typically women and their neurologists work to reduce the number of medications a woman takes, as well as the frequency and dose, in preparation for the pregnancy. Once pregnant, however, women should not change their regimen.
BLANCA VAZQUEZ, MD: During pregnancy, we do not change anti-epileptic drugs. We do not like to switch to a different agent, because there is no data that will support that that particular medicine is going to protect the patient's seizure. It is safer to maintain the therapy that is known to work and to allow the patient to go to pregnancy following the levels, following a very close monitoring with the obstetrician.
