Survey of Pregnancy Status and Needs of Female Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis of Childbearing Age

Object: Understand the status and needs of pregnancy and breastfeeding in patients with rheumatoid arthritis of childbearing age, and analyze the factors that affect the decision-making of patients. Methods: Using convenience sampling method, 53 patients with rheumatoid arthritis of childbearing age who visited our hospital’s rheumatology and immunology clinic from June to December 2019 were selected for investigation and study. Use general information questionnaires and self-made questionnaires to conduct questionnaire surveys and data collection for this population. Results: Among the 53 patients, the top three factors influencing the decision of whether to become pregnant or breastfeeding were: worry that rheumatism would affect the fetus (80.6%), worry that rheumatism would be passed on to offspring (66.5%), and worry about pregnancy caused rheumatism recurrence (67.9%). Patients believe that during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the need for help from medical workers mainly includes: medication guidance (75.0%), condition monitoring (68.5%), pregnancy/pregnancy/lactation management (64.5%) and mental care (55.3%). Conclusion: Rheumatoid arthritis patients of childbearing age generally choose to abandon pregnancy or breastfeeding after delivery. Medical staff should take effective measures to strengthen patient education based on factors that affect patient decision-making, and provide targeted medication guidance to patient groups with different needs, disease management and spiritual care to improve the quality of life of patients and meet their fertility needs.