Researchers included nearly 1500 women with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis who became pregnant. To better understand pregnancy outcomes, those on medications like biologics were compared to those not on these medications. Children were followed for the first year of life.

Importantly, being on biologics and thiopurine medications did not increase any pregnancy or neonatal complications. In fact, higher disease activity of IBD was associated with complications like miscarriage and preterm birth. Researchers concluded that medications should be continued throughout pregnancy to control IBD symptoms and reduce pregnancy-related complications.

IBD commonly affects men and women during their reproductive ages. Because of this, researchers are interested in knowing how the disease affects fertility and pregnancy. Much research on the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy has focused on women, but for this study, researchers focused on men. They wanted to know how men's IBD and their use of IBD medication affect reproductive outcomes. The study results showed that men who received a diagnosis of IBD before trying to conceive were more likely to have difficulty conceiving than men who developed IBD after conceiving. However, these fi ndings were noted only in those with recently active disease within the past 6 months. Men with IBD who were in long-term remission were similar to the rates prior to development of IBD. Exposure to any of the medications for treating IBD was not associated with congenital anomalies, low birth weight or preterm births.

We studied how often women and men with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) seek care for infertility (problems getting pregnant). We also looked at reasons why individuals had trouble getting pregnant. A total of 12.5% of women in CCFA Partners went to see a doctor for problems getting pregnant. This was a little higher in women with Crohn's disease (14.1%) than in women with ulcerative colitis (9.5%). Risk factors for needing help getting pregnant were: prior GI surgery and older age. The most common cause of fertility problems in women was blocked fallopian tubes. For men, 8.7% needed help with fertility. Age was a risk factor. The most common cause of fertility problems was a problem with their female partner. Nearly 80% of women and men who went to the doctor for fertility problems were able to get pregnant. These rates of pregnancy with fertility treatment are similar to those of people without IBD.

In a study of over 300 women with inflammatory bowel disease who reported at least one pregnancy after their IBD diagnosis, more than half reported that their disease symptoms improved during pregnancy, while about 20% said that their disease symptoms were worse during pregnancy. Younger women and women with ulcerative colitis were more likely to have increased disease symptoms during pregnancy. Of the nearly 200 women who breastfed, 14% said that symptoms improved, 13% said symptoms got worse and about 40% said their symptoms did not change during breastfeeding Those with worsening symptoms during breastfeeding were younger and had a lower body mass index than those whose symptoms remained the same or improved.