The good news is that if your crohn's disease is in a remission stage, there is no reason why you could not get pregnant as quickly as anyone else. Unless you have had surgery on the pelvis, because this can restrict fertility.
Some medications can also cause problems. For example, if the father-to-be is on sulfasalazine this can affect the sperm count, so it is better to discuss with the doctor and change to an alternative medication if possible.
When you decide to have a baby, it is best to avoid smoking and for the mother or father to not be on the drug methotrexate - for 3-6 months prior to conception. Your doctor will advise you of this.
It's important for the mother-to-be to feel really healthy prior to becoming pregnant but under the doctors advice, medications should still be continued throughout the pregnancy unless advised otherwise. To come off of the medications may seem kinder but if the disease flare-up again, it can be very difficult to get it back under control and this could be more harmful to the pregnancy.
Quite often the woman feels much better during pregnancy anyway, as the body naturally suppresses the immune system at that time which is instrumental in Crohn's. Some women find that their Crohn's goes into remission.
There can be complications however so it important to do all you can to keep your health and to look after yourself before and during your pregnancy -when it occurs. Complications can include: miscarriage, premature delivery etc so do read up on as much information relating to Crohn's and pregnancy as you can.
I have attached a link which you may find useful.
http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/pregnancyfactsheet.pdf
I hope this helps.
Annette
Babies, yes by: Anonymous
I had two healthy babies.
First child I did great during the pregnancy no crohn's problems - but major Crohn's problems after baby born.
Second child I had crohn's problems during pregnancy and major problems after baby born.
I'm thankful for two healthy children - 13 y.o. and 17 y.o. now, so far they don't have Crohn's.
crohns by: Anonymous
my symptoms go when i am pregnant and have had two very healthy daughters.
YES by: Anonymous
I was diagnosed with Crohn's in August 2000, only 5 months after having my first daughter. I had my son in 2003 without any Crohn's related complications and just had my 2nd daughter a few months ago. Again without any complications. Good luck.
babay talk by: jodi
ive had crohns for 24yrs now and in that time i had my son with no trouble at all
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.