Pregnancy and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Pregnancy and delivery can be relatively normal in women with IBD. Even so, women with IBD should discuss their illness with their health care providers before pregnancy. Most medications used for IBD are safe or likely safe in pregnancy. Surgery, if necessary, is safest in the second trimester. Pre-term birth or early delivery has been reported to be increased 2 to 3-fold in women with IBD, although most children born to women with IBD are unaffected.