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Epilepsy and pregnancy: Medication changes
Anticonvulsant medication dose adjustments during pregnancy
In theory, you may require an increase in the dose of your medication. In practice,
most physicians have found this to be unnecessary and therefore tend to stick to
the same pre-
Your doctor may, however, want to check the drug levels in your blood from time to time. If this is found to be well below the acceptable therapeutic range, the case for increasing the dose may be compelling, even in the absence of seizures. After all, the aim is to prevent these from occurring.
Labor and delivery issues for an epileptic mother
Special measures in labor for an epileptic mother
No special measures are actually required for an epileptic mother when labor starts. Labor does not increase the risk of seizures and certainly no special measures are necessary.
Epileptic mother: After delivery
For the mother, no, but she will be strongly advised to have vitamin K given to the baby, which counters the increased bleeding tendency that these babies are especially prone to.
The case for vitamin K is certainly stronger for these babies, even though vitamin K is recommended for and administered to practically all newborns.
In many cases, the mother will have taken Vitamin K1 supplements in the tail-
Pre-conception counseling for an epileptic parent
The various issues touched upon here make it clear that pre-
It is also important to explore possibilities of either stopping or changing medication in the period leading to pregnancy, i.e. before starting to try for a baby. For those on Sodium valproate (Valproic acid), if it is not possible to change, preconception use of folic acid will be strongly advised, as it will minimize the risk of spina bifida (associated with this type of medication).