Consensus includes counseling that active disease increases risk for infertility and recommendations for medication use
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — In a global consensus statement published online Aug. 28 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, recommendations are presented for managing pregnancy in women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Uma Mahadevan, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues reviewed the current data to determine best practices for management of pregnancy in IBD. The topics were divided into 10 categories; 34 recommendations and 35 consensus statements were issued.
The authors recommend counseling women with IBD that active disease increases the risk for infertility compared with inactive disease (strong recommendation). Although women with IBD may have decreased fertility compared with those without IBD, women with IBD may have comparable effectiveness with assisted reproductive technology as measured by live birth (conditional recommendations). Women with IBD are encouraged to undergo preconception counseling (strong recommendation). Maintenance 5-aminosalicylate therapy is recommended to be continued among women with IBD who are pregnant or attempting conception (strong recommendation); maintenance sulfasalazine therapy is suggested and corticosteroid therapy is suggested when clinically necessary with appropriate monitoring (conditional recommendations); however, maintenance methotrexate should be discontinued prior to conception (strong recommendation). Breastfeeding is recommended as it is not associated with an increased risk for disease exacerbation (strong recommendation).
“The goal of our study and consortium has been to provide hope, comfort, and the same high-level care to current and future mothers with IBD,” Mahadevan said in a statement. “The consensus recommendations are the first truly global effort to improve treatment and outcomes for women with IBD and their children.”
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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