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Review
. 2019 May 27:12:1756284819852231.
doi: 10.1177/1756284819852231. eCollection 2019.

Insights into the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in pregnancy

Sarah E Shannahan  1 , Jonathan M Erlich  1 , Mark A Peppercorn  1
Affiliations
Review

Insights into the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in pregnancy

Sarah E Shannahan et al. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are most commonly diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood, with half of patients being diagnosed before age 32, thus impacting peak years of reproduction and family planning. While controlled IBD has no negative effects on the ability to conceive, there is overall a trend towards voluntary childlessness due to patients' concerns for adverse fetal outcomes from underlying IBD and from adverse medication effects. Active disease at the time of conception is associated with worsening disease activity during pregnancy and carries a higher risk of poor fetal outcomes. It is therefore important to maintain remission during pregnancy, which is often achieved with pharmacologic therapy. The goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the current literature and safety data for pharmacologic treatment of IBD in pregnancy, in breastfeeding women, and in men planning to have children.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; fertility; inflammatory bowel disease; pregnancy; ulcerative colitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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