How Does Crohns Disease Affect Pregnancy?
For some people, pregnancy has a positive effect on Crohn’s disease. Pregnancy can lessen the symptoms. This is probably because pregnancy itself causes a suppression of the immune system. That happens so the body won’t reject the fetus. Being pregnant may protect you against future flare-ups of Crohn’s disease. It’s also possible it may reduce the need for surgery in the future. This is because pregnant women produce the hormone relaxin. Relaxin stops premature contractions of the uterus. It is thought that relaxin might inhibit the formation of scar tissue. Women who have IBD have normal pregnancies and deliveries at the same rate as women without IBD. It is mainly when you have active Crohn’s disease that problems can occur. Active Crohn’s disease raises the risk of miscarriage. It also creates a higher risk of premature delivery and stillbirth. Women with inactive Crohn’s disease, though, also have a slightly higher risk of miscarriage as compared with pregnant women in general.
