HerStory

Pregnancy: A Blessing and a Chance to Help Others

by Judith O'Toole,
EpilepsyUSA/Between Us staff

After trying to have a baby for more than two years, Vicky Rosser was about to lose all hope of becoming pregnant.

In fact, Rosser and her husband Lee had just decided to check into adoption opportunities when she started to feel a little queasy in the morning. A doctor's visit confirmed what the couple was hoping for. She was indeed pregnant. Then it was off to Rosser's other doctor - her neurologist. He knew the couple had been trying to start a family for awhile. And, he knew there might be some cause for concern.

You see, Rosser has suffered from generalized tonic clonic (grand mal) seizures and auras since she was an infant. She has also been on antiepileptic drugs since childhood.

But epilepsy aside, she was now pregnant. And, she said, very happy. But the happiness soon turned to trepidation. She said she and her husband "were in dire need of more information."

"Shortly after I found out I was pregnant," Rosser said, "I decided to go to the pharmacy and actually read through the entire warning label of the medication I take to control my seizures."

She began reading and thought to herself, "Why have I never read this before? I've been on this medication for years." She said it became overwhelming.

"As I stood there in the pharmacy, reading, I began crying," she said. "The pharmacist talked to me and told me I should call the Epilepsy Foundation for more information about my pregnancy and that's when I found out about the AED Registry."

The registry Rosser refers to is the Antiepileptic Drug (AED) Pregnancy Registry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Genetics and Teratology Unit. The registry is designed to find out which epilepsy therapies are associated with increased fetal risk and birth defects. Pregnant women who take AEDs are encouraged to sign up so more can be learned about the effects of the drugs on the developing child. More knowledge in this area will help women in the future.

"We need to get the word out - to pregnant women, neurologists and obstetricians," Rosser emphasized. "Pregnant women with epilepsy have to step up to the plate and participate in the registry.

"You can't just find someone on the street who is pregnant and see if they'd be willing to take an antiepileptic drug, so that when you decide to have a baby you'll know the drug is safe and won't cause birth defects," she continued. "Taking part in the registry has been simple," she said.

The initial phone call to the Registry takes about 10 minutes. Then, at seven months, there is another telephone interview, which lasts a little less than five minutes. After the baby is born there is five-minute follow-up interview. In her eighth month at press time, Rosser said her pregnancy has gone well, although there was a little vomiting in the first trimester. At least one side effect of pregnancy, however, has been welcome. No seizures. Not even an aura. Before she became pregnant, she had several grand mal seizures each year and daily auras (simple partial seizures).

Yes, she's pregnant. And like most women expecting their first child, Rosser has lots of questions. The fact that she has epilepsy just adds to them. But now her trepidation has once again been transformed to happiness. She has the satisfaction of helping to find new answers through the AED Registry, answers that will help other women in the future.