Evaluation of epileptic mothers' performance in the use of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy and comparing their pregnancy care with non-epileptic mother

Abstract

Epilepsy is a non-communicable chronic disease that affects 50 million people worldwide. Epilepsy is defined as repeated seizures two or more times in which there are involuntary movements of part or the whole body. Epilepsy in pregnant women is one of the important issues, in addition to controlling seizures in pregnant women, the use of safe anticonvulsant drugs for the fetus and changing the drug during pregnancy are important challenges. The purpose of this evaluation is the performance of pregnant women with epilepsy in the use of anticonvulsant drugs. Materials and Methods: The study included two groups, the target group of 50 pregnant women with epilepsy and the control group of 100 pregnant women without any underlying disease who had informed consent to participate in the study and had no exclusion criteria were included in the study. The patients include pregnant women aged 18-40, who answered questions such as age, type of drug used, change in dose and type of drug used during pregnancy, change in the number of seizure attacks during pregnancy, as well as the type of delivery, cause Delivery, age at termination of pregnancy, admission of the baby to the NICU and readmission of the mother were recorded through telephone calls to the mothers. The target group, which is pregnant women with epilepsy, who were compared with their pre-pregnancy period in terms of the way they take drugs and the number of seizure attacks, dose changes, and the type and number of drugs used, and also the target group with the control group, which consists of 100 pregnant women without epilepsy. They were compared in terms of maternal and fetal complications and outcomes during pregnancy, delivery and up to 2 weeks after delivery Resault: Pregnancy complications were not significantly different in two groups, and in 70% of mothers with epilepsy, the type of drug did not change during pregnancy, and in 30%, the type of drug was changed. In 50% of pregnant mothers, the drug dose has not changed during pregnancy, and in 8% of pregnant mothers, the drug dose has decreased, and in 42%, the drug dose has increased. 62% of mothers were given permission to get pregnant before pregnancy. In 76% of pregnant mothers with epilepsy, the number of seizure attacks did not change and only in 8% we saw an increase in the number of seizure attacks. The amount of emergency delivery is higher in the control group. The amount of caesarean section in the target group is higher than the control group, although no significant relationship has been reported.