Crohn's disease & blood clotting in pregnancy

[Kaysxo]

I've got a 14 month old, good pregnancy, born day after her due date and a really good labour. However 3 weeks after I had her I went into hospital because I was in so much pain in my leg, I had 2 blood clots. I was in for 3 weeks getting treatment and have been told if I have any more babies I will have to start clexane injections as soon as I find out I'm pregnant, all the way through the pregnancy. They told me this December 2013, now a year on I've been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. ??

My partner and I have been talking about having another baby now out little one is at a good stage, and we don't want to leave too much of a gap between them. However I need an operation first, an I'm worried about how having Crohn's disease could make pregnancy different. Although my first pregnancy was good, I suffered from 7 months with pelvic pain and couldn't walk. I had braxton hicks from 3 months which progressively got worse the heavier bump got. I'm worried my next pregnancy could be complicated. Has anyone got Crohn's and how was your pregnancy? And has anyone taken clexane everyday of their pregnancy? Kay x

Hi, I have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease for seven years and now I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant with my first. So far I have done relatively well but I am currently still on medication to control things but have to stop at the start of the 3rd trimester. My inflammatory blood markers are still high and they may start me on steroids if things get any worse but at the moment it's not having any impact on baby. Your Drs may want to put you on a higher dose of folic acid before you start TTC as you may have absorption problems and you will probably have extra growth scans.
Do you mind me asking what surgery you are having? Is it a bowel resection?
I don't have any experience with blood clots but they are something we are slightly higher risk of because of crohn's.
Good luck and hope the surgery goes well

I am currently 26 weeks pregnant and have had crohns disease for the past 8 or 9 years.

My crohns disease is well controlled on my current medication (infliximab) however you would need to talk to your consultant about if you can still take your medication during pregnancy as some crohns meds aren't safe, or aren't advisable, to take. The best position you could be in to start TTC would be if your crohns is in remission (no active inflammation) and your on a medication which is safe for pregnancy. If this happens then your pregnancy should be relatively normal, although its pretty impossible to predict whether you will stay in remission the whole pregnancy - some people find that their crohns symptoms get better in pregnancy, some stay the same, some get worse. If you have crohns then you will be referred to consultant led care (so you see OB consultants as well as midwives) and it may change your delivery options e.g at my hospital if you have crohns in the last 30cm of your bowel then you will be advised to have a c-section, but I think this is pretty much on a case by case basis.

The best thing to do would be to talk to your crohns consultant about TTC and pregnancy and what would be best in your case. This is a good leaflet of general advice for crohns and pregnancy: www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/Resources/CrohnsAndColitisUK/Documents/Publications/Info-Sheets/Pregnancy-and-IBD.pdf

Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions at all :)