Jul 06, 2015 11:12 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Pregnant women with epilepsy are at a higher risk for complications and death during delivery, according to a recent study MedPage Today reported.

A team of researchers led by Sarah MacDonald from Harvard University found that women with epilepsy had a risk of death during delivery hospitalization of 80 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies, which is higher than the 6 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies found among women without epilepsy.

In epilepsy the United States, between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent of all pregnancies occur in women with. 

"We also found that women with epilepsy were at increased risk for cesarean delivery, prolonged hospital stay, preeclampsia [pregnancy-related high blood pressure], preterm labor and stillbirth," MacDonald told HealthDay.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from 4.2 million deliveries, of this group 14,151 were women with epilepsy.

Based on their findings, researchers also suggest that women with epilepsy were at increased risk for other adverse outcomes, including preeclampsia, preterm labor and stillbirth. The women also had increased health care utilization, including an increased risk of cesarean delivery and prolonged hospital stay, regardless of delivery method.

There were several caveats in this study, including that their data lacked the ultimate causes of death during delivery among women with epilepsy. They also noted that while the risk of death is higher, the death of a mother during delivery is still very rare even among women with epilepsy.

"Regardless of the specific cause, the point that women recorded as having epilepsy have an increased risk of mortality remains a clinically relevant message suggesting that increased attention should be paid. Future research is needed to determine the specific causes of mortality and how interventions might improve outcomes," the authors write.

The findings are detailed in JAMA Neurology. 

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