Inflammatory bowel disease and pregnancy: fertility, complications and treatment

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is commonly diagnosed and treated in the young population. Therefore, it is common that women anticipating or undergoing pregnancy will have to cope with the additional burden of their IBD. Pregnancy in an IBD patient also presents challenges for the practitioner, in that the usual diagnostic and therapeutic armamentarium of potential tests and therapies is disrupted. This review covers the implications of IBD for fertility, pregnancy and offspring, and discusses the management of IBD in pregnancy.

Keywords Inflammatory bowel disease, pregnancy, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, pregnancy complications

Ann Gastroenterol 2020; 33 (6): 579-590