What should someone expect being pregnant with Crohn's disease?

[RebeccaTee]

Hi all.
Just asking a question on behalf of my sister as she is very anxious. She has recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease (it's currently mild). She is 31 and hoping to get pregnant in the near future.
Does anyone have any positive experiences of being pregnant with Crohn's and what could she potentially expect? I know everyone is different but just be good to have an idea. Many thanks. :)

It was no different for me, I had a few extra appointments/scans to check growth because I’d had a mild flare. Otherwise was life as normal.

No different for me. No extra scans required. I had a flare up and just took my regular medication.

If had Crohns 20 years by the time I was pregnant. I was so well during pregnancy it was brilliant. A lot of people find this too.

The immune systems goes into some kind of suspended state during pregnancy to stop the body rejecting the pregnancy. Because of this many people with IBD or other autoimmune conditions will feel much better than normal during pregnancy. However afterwards - after giving birth/ and or stopping breast feeding the immune system kicks back in and it can be quite common to have a bad flare at that time. I was advised not to have a third child as I would likely be so ill with the flare afterwards. Bad with my first, terrible with my second. Hope this makes sense. Felt great during pregnancy though and in the early months after.

Someone I know symptoms improved so much during pregnancy and she could eat more food! She had c sections as they didn't want her to push due to risk of bowel tearing.

My pregnancies were complicated by being told to come off of the medication (for good reason - I was on azathioprine at the time and it has links to low birth weight). Coming off caused flare ups each time and I miscarried three times. The last time, they told me to stay on the azathioprine and I stayed in remission throughout my pregnancy, and DS was born very small for a full term baby, but otherwise healthy.

It depends what Rx she is on and if the disease is well controlled. To expect dual consultant care - Obs/ Gynae and Gastro. Very important to know if medication is safe to take pre and during pregnancy as some need to stop 12/18 months prior to conceiving to be safe. Disease must be well controlled prior to pregnancy. Communicate and plan the pregnancy in advance, discuss with Gastro consultant BEFORE conception