Expecting With MS? Discover the Unexpected Mental Health Challenges
Recent research highlights a concerning trend: pregnant people with multiple sclerosis are more prone to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
This extensive study underscores the need for specialized mental health care and preventative measures during and after pregnancy for those affected by MS.
MS and Mental Health in Pregnancy
Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who become pregnant are more likely to experience mental health issues during pregnancy and in the years following childbirth compared to those without MS. This finding comes from a study published on January 22, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Previous studies have shown that women with MS are more likely to have depression, anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder compared to women without MS,” said study author Ruth Ann Marrie, MD, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Mental health struggles can affect both parents and kids, making it important to understand how mental health challenges around pregnancy affect people with MS.”
The study involved 894,852 pregnant people. Of the group, 1,745 people had MS, 5,954 people had epilepsy, 4,924 people had irritable bowel disease, and 13,002 people had diabetes. They were matched to 869,227 pregnant people who did not have MS or any of the other conditions.
Tracking Mental Health Before and After Birth
Researchers looked at health records for people who gave birth during a 15-year span. They looked at records from two years before conception to three years after the participants gave birth.
Researchers then looked at how many participants had newly diagnosed or existing mental illness during pregnancy, and in the first, second, and third years after giving birth. Mental illnesses included anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, suicide attempts, and substance abuse.
Comparing Mental Health Outcomes
They found that mental illness affected 42% of people with MS during pregnancy and increased to 50% in the first year after giving birth, compared to 30% of people without MS during pregnancy and 38% in the first year after birth.
A total of 8% of people with MS had new mental illness diagnoses during pregnancy and 14% had new diagnoses in the first year after birth, compared to 7% and 11% of those without MS.
Risk Analysis and Specific Mental Health Conditions
After adjusting for factors such as age at conception and income in the area of residence, researchers found that pregnant people with MS had a 26% increased risk of mental illness during pregnancy and a 33% increased risk after giving birth when compared to pregnant people without MS.
In addition, researchers found that people with MS had an increased risk of all specific mental illnesses except suicide attempts. They also found that substance use increased in people with MS from 0.54% during pregnancy to 6% after giving birth.
Conclusion and Implications for Future Research
“These findings emphasize the need for preventive and early treatment of mental illness,” said Marrie. “Future studies should look at how MS affects mental health in mothers during and after pregnancy and if it’s worse in different stages of MS. Doctors should know about these risks, make sure to check mental health, and provide treatment if needed.”
A limitation of the study was that researchers were unable to look at how severe participants’ MS was, what treatments people were using or their health habits.
Explore Further: New Study Links Multiple Sclerosis to Increased Mental Health Risks During and After Pregnancy
Reference: “Peripartum Mental Illness in Mothers With Multiple Sclerosis and Other Chronic Diseases in Ontario, Canada” by Ruth Ann Marrie, James Bolton, Yushu (Vicki) Ling, Charles Bernstein, Kristen M. Krysko, Ping Li, Kyla A. Mckay, Priscila Pequeno, Neda Razaz, Dalia Rotstein, Karma Deakin-Harb and Colleen J. Maxwell, 22 January 2025, Neurology.
The study was supported by MS Canada and ICES, formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.