Our Current Study
We are a group of doctors, nurses, psychologists, researchers and women with epilepsy who are interested in knowing how to make pregnancy as safe as possible for people with epilepsy and their babies. We are currently enrolling pregnant people with epilepsy to understand the health of their children and how they develop during childhood.
What we do
We recruit women with epilepsy who are pregnant to find out about their health and then later, the health and development of their child.
What is the purpose of this research?
To date we have enrolled over 11,000 women with epilepsy and their babies, finding out about the babies at birth.
However, we are now running this study to follow mothers and their babies for longer, to learn about the development of the children over time.
Who can take part?
You can take part if you have a diagnosis of epilepsy and are currently pregnant. You can be taking medications or not taking medication for your seizures.
Participation in this study is completely voluntary and choosing not to take part will not affect you or your medical care in any way. You can also choose to withdraw your participation at any time, without giving a reason, and your care will continue as usual.
Around 2,500 women with epilepsy will have a baby each year in the UK. If you are one of these, read on to find out how you can help.
Importantly, you do not need to change your medicines to take part.
What is involved?
You can join the study at any time during your pregnancy, but earlier gives us even more information.
At the start, we will ask some questions about your epilepsy and your background, both before and during your pregnancy. Once your baby has been born, we will send a letter to your GP to ask about your child’s health at birth and ask you some questions too.
Later, when your child is 3, 6, 12 and 24 months old we will send you some questions about feeding, health and how they are developing. You can choose to answer the questions online or if you prefer, we can complete them with you over the phone or via the post.
For some people who participate there may also be the option to take part in an arm of our study which includes a play-based assessment of your child when they are around 24 months old. This assessment is completed with toys/games so your child will feel like they are playing. This helps us assess the development of your child in more detail. When you join the register we will let you know whether we are currently recruiting to that part of our study.
11,000+
Women with epilepsy and their babies have enrolled to date but we are now on a new journey.
If you have a question please get in touch by completing the form below:
Join Our Study
We are currently enrolling pregnant people with epilepsy to understand the health of their children and how they develop during childhood.
Whether you are on antiseizure medications or not, you are welcome to take part.
You can read the full information sheet by clicking HERE.
Funded and Supported By:
