22 - Parenting for women with epilepsy

Summary

Mimi Callanan is an Epilepsy Nurse Specialist at the Stanford Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. She has spent her career caring for people with epilepsy and is familiar with the concerns common to any new parents with epilepsy. In this chapter, she discusses the seizure-related risks of parenting a small child and offers reasonable and helpful suggestions to make a home environment that ensures your child's safety. I think you'll find this chapter reassuring. In my practice I have often met women with epilepsy who were told early in their lives that they should not have children because they would not be fit parents. Some women have carried that advice around inside themselves for years without ever challenging it. It is hoped that this chapter will make clear that being a parent is hard and wonderful for everyone. Women with epilepsy have special challenges that require some additional accommodation – but, after that, it's every Mom for herself!

MJM

The birth of a new baby can be one of the most exciting and fulfilling events in a woman's life, yet it is also a time of many fears and anxiety. The birth of a new baby requires major adjustments in life. These events may cause changes in roles and responsibilities within the family structure.

Planning a family for the woman with epilepsy cannot begin too soon. With the onset of menstruation or when her epilepsy is first diagnosed, the woman with epilepsy can work with her physician to discuss pregnancy and childbearing.