[Multiple sclerosis and childbirth: Relapse frequency and pregnancy outcome. A hospital-based retrospective study]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system which affects young people, especially women. The aim of the study was to examine the disease profile of MS during pregnancy and postpartum as well as pregnancy outcomes in women with MS compared to a control group. Such a study has not been conducted in Iceland before.

A hospital based retrospective study with data from the Icelandic Medical Birth Register and medical records from Landspitali University Hospital including women with MS diagnosis during 2009-2018 and their deliveries through 1999-2018, a total of 91 women and 137 births.

Relapse frequency decreased during pregnancy compared to the preceding year. Over half of the women received disease modifying drugs before pregnancy, all stopped treatment before or shortly after conception. Women in the study group underwent cesarean sections before labor more frequently than the control group. The gestational length was comparable between the groups when labor was spontaneous. The numbers of heavy- and lightweight newborns as well as Apgar scores were alike in both groups.

We believe that our study reflects actual pregnancy outcome among Icelandic women with MS and our results show that their pregnancies and deliveries do not differ in any major aspect from the general population. Our findings agree with previous studies in that pregnancy protects against MS relapses although in our study this is confined to the first and second trimester.