INFORMATION FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DURING PREGNANCY OR BREASTFEEDING

What is multiple sclerosis during pregnancy?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is a chronic disease (begins gradually and continues throughout life). It can progress slowly over time, getting worse gradually, or it can occur in flare-ups separated by periods of remission. Either way, it results in increasing disabilities in movement and sensation, as well as problems in balance and urination. MS can occur during pregnancy because often it begins in the middle of life. In many cases, the disease can improve during pregnancy but then returns after the woman gives birth. It is thought that MS is caused by the person’s own immune system immune attacking sheaths of fat-like material called myelin that surrounds axons, the long appendages of neurons (nerve cells). Since it’s the myelin that allows healthy axons to transmit electrical signals rapidly, the destruction of the myelin sheaths interferes with nerve tracts, which are bundles of axons that carry signals through the brain and spinal cord.