New ABN pregnancy and MS guidelines

Many people with MS choose to start a family. And lots of people have treatment options for relapses or symptoms. These guidelines can help guide decisions about how you manage your MS and think about conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

What do the 2026 ABN pregnancy and MS guidelines cover?

The ABN guidelines include the latest on:

• which DMTs can be safely used up to or during pregnancy
• when treatments should stop around conception or pregnancy, and how soon to restart afterwards
• which DMTs can be used alongside fertility treatments
• recommended vaccines during and after pregnancy

The guidelines confirm that steroid treatment for relapses and having MRI scans are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding. But gadolinium enhancing dye which is sometimes used for MRI scans should be avoided when possible during pregnancy. 

Our information about treatments, pregnancy and breastfeeding has been updated to reflect the details of this new ABN guidance. That includes our DMT decision tool.

Find out about MS treatments

Discussion and shared decision making

The expert neurologists who wrote the guidance make it clear that pregnancy, breastfeeding and birthing plans should be tailored to each person individually. That’s why it’s important that the topics are raised when you’re talking about treatments. Your plans could affect what treatments suit you best.

They also say that treatment choices and pregnancy need to be discussed with the best evidence available. Sometimes there’ll be lots of research to help make decisions. Sometimes the evidence will be less clear. This should be explained to you, so you understand what’s known and what’s not known. Then you can decide things with your healthcare team.

About the ABN guideline 

The ABN guideline is a ‘consensus statement’, so it’s been agreed by a group of expert neurologists. It’s an update on the first ABN pregnancy guideline from 2019. The group reviewed the latest scientific evidence and had input from:

• health care professionals in neurology services and obstetric services (specialists in pregnancy and childbirth)
• pharmacists
• specialist nurses
• charities including the MS Society

The authors say new guidelines will be needed in future, as more evidence becomes available. To do this, they plan to review the guideline within 3 years.

Read the full 2026 ABN pregnancy guideline in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal

The UK MS Register

If you’ve got MS and you’re pregnant, you can help build the evidence for pregnancy guidance in future. By signing up for the MS Pregnancy Register, your experiences will be recorded through surveys when you’re pregnant, a year later, and 3 or 4 years after that.

Sign up to the UK MS Pregnancy Register