Abstract
Author(s): STEFAN MILLER1, EWA WITKOWSKA2, MAÅGORZATA SOBCZAK1, ZOFIA REBEÅ3,PRZEMYSÅAW OSZUKOWSKI4, PIOTR WOŹNIAK1
Epilepsy is one of the most frequent neurological diseases. As a chronic disease manifestedby reoccurring seizures, with primary source in brain, it can be a clinical manifestation ofa number of brain disorders affecting people in every age. In Poland approximately 1.0% ofthe general population is affected by epilepsy. Around 0.3-0.5% of women suffering from epi-lepsy become pregnant and requires treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Each year this groupsconsists of approximately 3000 pregnant women, for which epilepsy may pose threat to health or even the life of both the woman and the developing fetus. The turn of 20th and 21st cen-turies has brought a huge leap in the pharmacological treatment of epilepsy. New antiepilepticdrugs have created new possibilities and decisively influenced the improvement of quality oflife of epileptic women who plan maternity in their reproductive age. The drugs effectivelycontrol the epileptic seizures and eliminated or largely limit the teratogenic risk of therapy.Complex care of neurologist, obstetrician, psychologist and neonatologist based on propereducation and preparation of epileptic women for pregnancy, also largely contributes to theimprovement of their quality of life.