• Question: Does Multiple Sclerosis affect pregnancy?

    Asked by bethanygodman to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Peter Balfe

      Peter Balfe answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Interesting question. MS is an autoimmune disease, but in a way so is pregnancy!
      Being pregnant requires the body to host a baby, which has a different genetic makeup from the mum, it is “non-self”. To prevent the baby being the target of an immune response, the female immune system closes down in parts during gestation. In some cases this can lead to improvements in MS symptoms. Unfortunately these improvements are often lost after the baby is born and the immune system reverts to its pre-pregnancy state.
      See here for a report on this:
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18164859

    • Photo: Paul Waines

      Paul Waines answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Hi bethanygodman- that’s a good one.

      It’s actually the other way round. Being pregnant can actually ease MS symptoms, but no-one knows why! On the down side, the symptoms seem to come back afterwards.

      It all comes down to hormones, and hopefully scientists can find out more about this to help all MS sufferers, not just the pregnant ones!

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