Consistent with the unpredictability that characterizes psoriasis in general, pregnancy may or may not improve your psoriasis.
The main difference between being pregnant or not is hormone levels. There are a variety of theories about how pregnancy hormone levels might improve psoriasis, but this subject matter still remains relatively unexplored. You may be able to come to your own conclusions based on these approximated trends:
- 50% of pregnant women with psoriasis see their symptoms improve
- 25% get worse
- 25% stay the same
Most pregnant women with psoriasis see their condition improve during pregnancy and then worsen afterward. Also, with multiple pregnancies, the psoriasis symptoms in question tend to be the same for each pregnancy (if the psoriasis improved during the first trimester last time, that will most likely happen again, etc.).
As a general rule, psoriasis does not affect a woman’s (or a man’s) reproductive ability nor does it pose a threat to the child after it is conceived. Of course, it would be a good idea to let your obstetrician just in case.
An aspect of being pregnant with psoriasis that should be handled with care is the medications that you are taking to treat your psoriasis. Many psoriasis medications can be extremely detrimental to your baby’s health, especially retinoids (relatives of Accutane). Even regular supplements can be harmful to your baby, so this would be at the top of your obstetrician question list. Mothers with psoriasis who plan on breastfeeding should also take every possible precaution since these medications can pass on to the baby.
