Study of Mothers With SMA Shows Positive Pregnancy and Delivery Experiences

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by Wendy Henderson |

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A recent study group has interviewed mothers with SMA to establish if they had any problems with pregnancy and the birth of their children.

Newborns in North Carolina to receive free genetic testing. 

There is limited information available to SMA patients who wish to start families, so the findings could be used as a base for counseling couples in the future.

Researchers spoke to 32 women, aged 21 to 65 years old, with SMA in the U.S. They asked them questions about how their pregnancy progressed, what affect it had on the severity of their SMA, and if they experienced any difficulties when giving birth.

The survey covered the birth of 35 different babies—13 of the women had never been pregnant and 19 of the mothers had one or more deliveries. Of the interviewees, 21 have SMA types 3 and 10 have SMA type 2.

Of the 13 women who had never been pregnant, only four admitted the reason behind being childless was having SMA.

Seventy-four percent of the women who had given birth reported increased disease severity during their pregnancy and 42 percent said the severity continued after they had given birth.

However, 91 percent of the mothers said they were satisfied with the care they received during their pregnancy and reported positive experiences.  Find out more about this survey here.

SMA couple talks about wanting to start a family. Find out more here. 

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