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Hi, Denell, and welcome to EmpowHer! Thank you so much for your question.

Here are some things I've found out about Asacol.

The drug is in the FDA's Pregnancy Category B for drugs, which means that it should not harm an unborn baby. However, please ask your doctor whether she/he will want you to switch when the baby is born, because the drug does get into your breast milk and can affect a nursing infant.

Here is the drugs.com page on Asacol:

http://www.drugs.com/asacol.html

I was wondering a little more about what "Pregnancy Category B" means. Here's what I found.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a pregnancy category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category B is given to medicines that have NOT been studied in pregnant humans but do not appear to cause harm to the fetus in animal studies.

Here's that explanation:

http://colitis.emedtv.com/asacol/asacol-and-pregnancy.html

The summary of the pregnancy categories for drugs are as follows:

Category A: Studies in humans have demonstrated no risk to the fetus.
Category B: Studies in animals have demonstrated no risk to the fetus, but there have not been studies done on humans. (Many, many drugs fall into this category.)
Category C: Animal studies have shown adverse effect on the fetus and there have been no human studies but in some cases the drug may still be beneficial.
Category D: There have been studies in humans that have shown adverse risk to the fetus but in some cases the drug may still be beneficial.
Category X: Studies in animals or humans clearly show that the risks outweigh the benefits.

I researched several sites on the pregnancy categories, and all of them rely on the particular health care provider to know his or her own patient and be able to assess the risk for that patient.

On one board, I found a woman whose OB/gyn and GI doctor both told her that it was safe during her pregnancy, but that it was also safer than risking a flare-up during pregnancy because of the risk of contaminating the fetus. Did your doctor speak of this at all?

Is this information helpful? Is there more I can find for you?

Thank you so much, this information does help me. I have a three year old son, my pregnancy with him was very complicated. I had a different doctor at that time, and he did not want me on Asacol and ended up putting me on prednisone (due to a flare up). My current doctor said it was okay to be on Asacol during pregnancy. So, the conflicting answers confused me, this is why I was looking for more information.
Thanks again,
Denell

Cool, Denell, I'm so glad the information helps. It's difficult to have conflicting information and to have to make decisions not only for your own health but also for the health of your baby, isn't it?

Take care, and may your pregnancy be blissfully free of complications this time around. And don't hesitate to come back if you have more questions about anything.

I was pregnant with ulcerative colitis 15 years ago at the age of 22. My doctor said that it seems as some women see improvements in pregnancy while others struggle with it. I have a long, extensive story. While this story may seem scary or overwhelming, it changed my life for the better! I will try and be succinct. To begin, I will let you know that I have a beautiful, healthy daughter.

During my fourth month of pregnancy, I was put in the hospital and placed on heavy steroids b/c my condition was worsening. I was in the hospital for a month and a half or so before they decided I needed to have surgery at Mayo or the University of WA. I lost a lot of blood and my colon was deteriorating. The pain was excruciating. I was airlifted to U of W where I had emergency surgery. They removed my entire colon!! I was told I was fortunate to survive since they stated it was falling apart. I had peritonitis less than one week later and was told my baby would not survive as I was in the beginning stages of labor. They were able to prevent labor. I had a temporary illeostomy (small intestine hooked up to abdominal cavity). I had a vaginal birth and surgery 6 weeks after the birth to reconnect my bowels.

I am completely healthy and living now without ulcerative colitis. That is the beauty. The reason I wanted to share this story was the fact that I took A LOT of drugs during pregnancy and my daughter and I are now both alive and healthy. The best thing to do is keep faith and keep the anxiety down. I wish you the very best and hope for remission. However, remember that things can still turn out okay even in the midst of tough times :).