Epilepsy Linked to Higher Risk of Complications During Childbirth, Study Finds

A new study suggests that pregnant women with epilepsy are at higher risk of incurring death during delivery. 

Lead researcher, Sarah MacDonald from the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston said, "Specifically, there were 80 deaths per 100,000 women with epilepsy versus six deaths per 100,000 in women without epilepsy." However, MacDonald stressed that even if the relative risk of death for pregnant women with epilepsy during delivery is high, such case is rare, Health Day reports.

According to Science World Report, seizures which epileptic pregnant women experience during pregnancy can injure the fetus, causing a premature separation of the placenta from the uterus, miscarriage, preterm labor or premature birth.

MacDonald and her colleagues used the U.S. medical records from delivery hospitalization to examine birth outcomes, including maternal death, cesarean delivery, duration of stay in the hospital, preeclampsia, preterm labor, and stillbirth among expectant mothers from 2007 to 2011. 

The team examined nearly 4.2 million deliveries, of which 14,100 women were recorded with epilepsy. MacDonald claimed that the reason for the increase risk of death and other adverse outcomes are unknown.  The team does not have an idea if the women were taking anti-seizure medication and if it has an effect on the increase in risk.

"Epilepsy does increase the risk of death [in delivery]," said Dr. Jacqueline French, a neurology professor at the Langone School of Medicine at New York University, and co-author of an accompanying journal.

However, she commented that the message of the study should not be that women with epilepsy are at a higher risk of dying while in delivery because it is alarming, especially when the current data cannot support the claim.

French described the new study as incomplete as it leaves some questions unresolved since it only looked at the risk during delivery and not for the entire period of pregnancy. French said it is vague if the cause of death during the delivery is the epilepsy or some other medical problem.

"If you have epilepsy, the great likelihood is that you are going to have a healthy, normal pregnancy and delivery," French commented.

However, MacDonald said the study is significant because it highlights a vulnerable patient population. The same study revealed that epileptic pregnant women are more likely to suffer from "depression, diabetes, kidney disease, mental disorder and alcohol and drug abuse," Health Day notes. Whether these problems contribute to the increase of risk during delivery is unknown.

MacDonald admitted that it would take more study to determine why women with epilepsy have higher risk and to discover the possible mitigation risks so as to reduce its adverse effects.

The results of the study is published in JAMA Neurology.