In the United States, epilepsy affects nearly one million women of childbearing age.

"Many women with epilepsy experience seizure exacerbations around the time of their menstrual periods, and that is thought to do to the cyclic hormones during the menstrual cycle," said Dr. Cynthia Harden, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center at North Shore-LIJ Health System. "We are working on ways to treat specifically those hormone-exacerbated seizures for women with epilepsy."

Years ago, women with the condition were discouraged from getting pregnant, but now, thanks to prenatal care and new treatment options, more than 90 percent of them deliver healthy babies, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

"The most important thing that a neurologist will discuss with you is whether the seizures are under good control, said Harden. "We really need to have the patient doing well with well-controlled seizures, hopefully no seizures or very mild, very infrequent seizures going into pregnancy."