Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) affect young people of reproductive age. There is little knowledge about complications from IBD during pregnancy and delivery. Here, we aimed to evaluate the possible IBD effects on fertility and pregnancy.

This observational study was conducted on female IBD aged between 15 and 50 years who referred to the GI clinic of Shariati Hospital from 2013–2017. Details on disease activity, prenatal complications, delivery, and neonatal outcome were collected through medical reports.

Among 1156 enrolled patients, 87.2% had UC and 12.8% had CD. About 40.2% of women had children. There was a history of infertility in 54 (7.4%) subjects. No significant relation was found between the type of inflammatory bowel disease and fertility status (P = 0.47). However, the infertility rate in patients with Crohn's disease (9.5%) was significantly higher than patients with ulcerative colitis (4%) (P = 0.006). The low age of the diagnosis was associated with a reduction in fertility (having a child) (p<0.001 r = 0.30) and an increase in abortion (p<0.004 r = 0.80) in the study population.

Our results suggest that women with IBD should not be so worried about the negative impact of their disease, disease activity, or medications on their infertility life. Although having a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to managing their pregnancy could re-assure and minimize the disease related complications of pregnancy.