Despite Risk for Complications, Women With IBD Can Still Have a Healthy Pregnancy
Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has changed dramatically in the past two decades, largely due to biologics, which help people with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) keep flare-ups at bay.But despite strides in treatments, pregnant women who have IBD remain at high risk for complications, according to research presented at the 2022 Digestive Disease Week conference in San Diego last week.Research on the subject has been sparse, largely because it’s considered risky to conduct clinical trials on pregnant women, says Anoushka Dua, MD, an internal medicine resident at the University of California in Los Angeles who specializes in gastroenterology and IBD, who led the new study.Dr. Dua says that something doctors do understand for sure is that keeping inflammation controlled during an entire pregnancy — from conception to birth…