The effect of pregnancy in Parkinson's disease

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Abstract
Pregnancy in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is a rare occurrence. Previous reports based on retrospective analysis suggest that pregnancy may have a deleterious effect on PD. We describe the effects of pregnancy on the symptomatology of a 33‐year‐old woman with PD using quantitative neurologic and quality‐of‐life scales prepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum. During her pregnancy, she was only treated with carbidopa/levodopa. The pregnancy resulted in a normal full‐term vaginal delivery of a healthy infant. Significant worsening of this patient's motor symptoms occurred during pregnancy without return to baseline at 15 months postpartum. Pregnancy may exacerbate PD and may have a long‐term negative impact on the course of the illness. This report may assist physicians in the counseling of patients with young‐onset PD who wish to consider pregnancy.