Rheumatoid arthritis: Does pregnancy affect symptoms?

Many people with rheumatoid arthritis say their symptoms get much better while they're pregnant, mostly in the second three months of pregnancy. Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition in which the immune system attacks the joints and other body tissues by mistake.

Not everyone's symptoms get better during pregnancy and some people's symptoms get worse. Many people whose symptoms get better during pregnancy also say their symptoms flare after they give birth. This most often happens within the first three months after delivery.

Researchers study why these changes happen. People assigned female at birth are more likely than people assigned male at birth to get rheumatoid arthritis. People assigned female at birth have more of the sex hormone estrogen. So one theory is that sex hormones play a role.

But people who take medicines with the sex hormone estrogen most often don't have changes in their rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. They may take estrogen as part of their oral contraceptive. Or they may take estrogen as hormone replacement therapy for menopause. More study is needed to find the link between sex hormones and rheumatoid arthritis.

Changes also happen in the pregnant person's immune system to keep the body from attacking the unborn baby, also called the fetus. Researchers are studying whether these changes might be linked to an improvement in rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.

Certain medicines that treat rheumatoid arthritis are not safe to take during pregnancy. People should stop taking them before getting pregnant. Work with your healthcare professionals to make a plan to manage your rheumatoid arthritis as well as you can before you get pregnant and during pregnancy.