Women with Epilepsy
Women with epilepsy have unique health concerns. Dr. Elizabeth E. Gerard and her colleagues at Northwestern’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center have the expertise to help you address the following considerations:
- How seizures may change with your menstrual period
- How seizures may change during pregnancy
- The types of contraception that work well with epilepsy and epilepsy medications
- Whether hormonal birth control can help control your seizures
- How seizure medications may affect your baby
- The effect of menopause on seizures
Our team at The Comprehensive Epilepsy Center believes that discussions about your reproductive health should start as early as possible, often well before you plan to get pregnant. To help make your care easier for you, Northwestern Memorial Hospital offers a unique and convenient interdisciplinary clinic that allows you and your doctor to consult with specialists in Epilepsy, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Planning and Clinical Pharmacology in the same visit.
Featured Article
Everything You Wanted to Know About Pregnancy & Epilepsy
Epilepsy fears stop many women from considering pregnancy. In this article Dr. Gerard helps separate the myths from the facts.
Read more about Pregnancy & Epilepsy (pdf)
Feature
Tune in to Health
Listen to Elizabeth Gerard, MD, and Catherine Stika, MD discuss why family planning is particularly important to female epilepsy patients.