Okay, it is scary enough to have an illness, let alone a painful illness, let alone an illness that can really interfere with getting pregnant and being an active mom. Yeah, it seems harmless enough to google “crohn’s and pregnancy” but look at the first page I clicked on here-way too scary to start an article off that way! Come on Baby Zone! Don’t frighten us!
Then I found this neat little Q &A on About.com
Can women with IBD have children?
Yes, women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can have children. In the past, women with IBD were counseled against pregnancy. But current medical management strategies have made childbearing safer for both mother and baby. Having a chronic illness while pregnant requires careful supervision by qualified physicians, but a healthy pregnancy and baby are both possible.
I just have to say-bullshit. Women were counseled against it? Even if they were in remission? Some people say that getting pregnant often keeps or puts a woman in remission. I was totally fine during my first pregnancy. No flare-ups at all-and I went off all my meds as soon as I found out. Still, no crohn’s. Get as healthy as you can get and live as stress free as you possibly can, and go for it! I even had a home birth. A healthy pregnancy and baby are not just possible, but probable if you do it at the right time.
When I was 18, just after having been diagnosed, I told my friend I could not wait to have babies. “You’re going to have kids? Don’t you think that is ethically wrong? You are polluting the gene pool and possibly causing unneeded harm to another human being if your child ends up having it.” That was her reply.
I immediately looked it up. I had a 5% chance of passing it on. 5%! After some research, I found some different answers. Some say 5%, some say 8%, some say 5%-9%. Either way, the current theory is that it is a genetic predisposition paired with an environmental influence, like bacteria. If our children do get it, I am confident that they will have already found a way to completely heal it or cure it.
<—–Skinny me soon after I got crohn’s
I am not saying it is a sure thing, there are a ton of things to factor in:
