Children

Question

My former girlfriend told me that she was pregnant but that the “child” died because of her medication for CF. I don’t believe her because I haven’t heard about something like that. Most people around me think that this story is very vague. Can you help me understand this?

Answer

A direct answer to question, specifically if the death of the baby of your friend with CF is due to medication, is difficult to give without the medical data. But this question contains a few elements on CF and pregnancy which may need some clarification.
It is more difficult but not impossible for a woman with CF to get pregnant. Women with CF who do not want to be pregnant, should use contraceptive measures. If a couple of which one partner has CF want to have children, the partner without CF should undergo genetic screening for the CF mutation (test for being carrier of CF).
Pregnancy in a woman with CF should be well planned and not left to coincidence. Discussing pregnancy with the CF center tphysician/gynecologist and team members allows to make a better estimation of the individual risk of a pregnancy and will allow the necessary preparation (changes to medication, check ups, etc) before and during the pregnancy.
Pregnant women with CF have an increased risk for problems which may harm mother and/or child.
The mother will have an increased risk of exacerbations, nutritional problems and diabetes. There is also a higher risk of miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), growth retardation, premature labour and an increased risk of early death after birth.
The best way of avoiding problems during the pregnancy in a woman with CF is to optimize the followup and the treatment.
Both for mother and unborn child it is very important that the usual treatment is continued. The medication routinely given to patients with CF is not very toxic for the fetus. almost all of the currently used drugs will not result in death or cause harm in the unborn child and there is no reason to stop all the medication. One shoul just avoid treatment with ciprofloxacine (quinolone type antibiotic) and high intake of vitamin A supplement during pregnancy because of the risk of joint- and liver problems, respectively. The other drugs do not seem to result in an increased risk and their use is allowed during the pregnancy. Anyhow, the live and if the health of the mother is more important and when needed, necessary treatment should be administered to secure the live of the mother, regardless of the pregnancy.
Without being able to answer of course your direct question on the death of the baby at your girlfriend with CF, we can say that this seems unlikely and the chance of a miscarriage is much larger than the estimated chance of death by CF medication.

L. Dupont

19.10.2009