Clinical conversation for preparing and framing questions.

Printable checklist

Questions to Ask Before Pregnancy

Every question from this hub, gathered on one page. Print it, fill in your situation, and take it to your next appointment.

Reproductive topics rarely come up in an HS appointment unless you raise them. This checklist exists so you do not have to remember everything in the moment. Tick what matters to you, ignore the rest — there are no wrong questions, and asking them commits you to nothing.

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Questions to Ask Before Pregnancy

My situation

  • Affected body areas
  • How my disease course has been recently
  • Current treatments (including without a prescription)
  • Procedures planned or discussed
  • Other conditions
  • Affected people in my family
  • The timeframe I have in mind

Before conception

  • Is there anything in my case that argues against a pregnancy?
  • Should my treatment plan be reviewed before a pregnancy?
  • How much lead time is sensible for that?
  • Which co-occurring conditions should be assessed first?
  • What support is available for stopping smoking?
  • Should a planned procedure happen before or after a pregnancy?

Heritability and fertility

  • Given my family history, what is the risk for my child?
  • What is known about fertility in HS — and what is not?
  • Who do I turn to if genital-area symptoms make sex difficult?
  • Would more specialised counselling be useful?

During pregnancy

  • Who looks after my HS during the pregnancy?
  • How do I get an appointment at short notice during a flare?
  • What can I use for skin care and wound care?
  • Which symptoms should prompt an earlier review?
  • Are findings shared between dermatology and obstetric care?

Birth and the period after

  • What should my obstetric team know about my HS?
  • Is my groin or genital area relevant to birth planning?
  • What should I watch for in the weeks after birth?
  • Who is responsible for my HS after the birth?
  • How does an appointment happen during that period?

Breastfeeding

  • How does my treatment affect breastfeeding — and when do we discuss it?
  • What wound care is possible near the breast?
  • Can a lactation supporter who knows about my HS be involved?
  • What alternatives are there if feeding is too painful?

Coordination and support

  • Should dermatology and obstetric care be in direct contact?
  • Who coordinates my care overall?
  • Would a referral to a specialist centre be useful?
  • What psychosocial support is available to me?
  • Are there any studies that might be relevant to me?

My notes

Space for answers, dates, names, or anything else you want to remember.

This checklist collects discussion topics only. It contains no medical advice, recommends no treatment, and does not replace professional assessment.

Back to the Pregnancy & Family Planning hub

Continue in this hub

Can HS Affect Fertility? What is known about fertility and heritability, which common assumptions do not hold, and how to raise the topic. Planning a Pregnancy with HS The pre-conception appointment, the treatment plan, smoking, co-occurring conditions, and coordination between specialties. Living with HS During Pregnancy What studies show about the disease course, what changes physically, how to make appointments work, and what often follows birth. Breastfeeding and HS Practical barriers, breast and underarm involvement, positioning, and what to discuss before the birth.

Scientific research and editorial review

Last editorially reviewed: · Next scheduled review:

Reproductive health in HS is an area where patient need clearly outruns the evidence. The disease course during pregnancy has been described in cohort studies and pooled in a meta-analysis; fertility and breastfeeding have barely been studied at all. Every page in this hub therefore carries an evidence grade, and sections state explicitly where the evidence stops.

Population-level findings about pregnancy outcomes are reported here as associations that overlap with co-occurring conditions — they are presented as a reason for coordinated care, never as a prediction about any individual pregnancy.

No page in this hub names an individual medicine or states whether a treatment is suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Those questions are routed back to the clinicians who prescribe your care, because they are the only people who can weigh them for your situation.

This hub is source-linked and reviewed at least once a year. If a cited guideline, review or study changes, these pages are updated.

How we work: Editorial Policy

My HS Home Your appointment questions, saved tools and more in one place — no account needed. Prepare for an HS Treatment Conversation Build a question list for your next dermatology appointment. My HS Care Team Who may be involved beyond dermatology, and how to get the specialties talking to each other. Birth Control and HS Not planning pregnancy yet? How contraceptive method, HS symptoms and HS medications can intersect — and why contraceptive safety comes first. HS and Your Menstrual Cycle A different question from pregnancy: what the research says about period-related flares, and how to tell a repeatable pattern from a coincidence. HS, Perimenopause and Menopause A later hormonal life stage than this hub covers: what patient survey data actually show about HS after periods stop, and why improvement should not be assumed. Living With Acne Inversa The wider daily-life hub: routines, work, relationships and long-term coping. HS Wound Care & Dressing Guide Drainage, dressing changes and protecting clothing — organised by situation. HS Clothing & Friction Guide Why friction differs by body area — useful when your body is changing. Symptom Tracker Log flares, pain and patterns over time and take the summary to an appointment. Treatment Options for Acne Inversa How HS is treated, and how self-management sits alongside medical care.

Sources

  1. Adelekun AA, Villa NM, Hsiao JL, Micheletti RG. Pregnancy in Hidradenitis Suppurativa — Patient Perspectives and Practice Gaps JAMA Dermatology, 2021;157(2):227–230 — survey of counselling gaps on conception, heritability, medicines and sexual health
  2. Seivright JR et al. Impact of Pregnancy on Hidradenitis Suppurativa Disease Course: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Dermatology, 2022;238(2):260–266 — pooled rates of improvement, worsening and postpartum flares
  3. Lyons AB et al. Evaluation of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Disease Course During Pregnancy and Postpartum JAMA Dermatology, 2020;156(6):681–685 — cohort study; frequent postpartum worsening alongside little dermatology care
  4. Fitzpatrick L, Hsiao J, Tannenbaum R, Strunk A, Garg A. Adverse pregnancy and maternal outcomes in women with hidradenitis suppurativa Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2022;86(1):46–54 — population-level analysis; associations overlap with co-occurring conditions
  5. Barnes LA, Rinderknecht FB, Hsiao JL, Naik HB. Global barriers to sexual health, pregnancy, and breastfeeding in hidradenitis suppurativa International Journal of Women's Dermatology, 2026 — international survey of barriers to sexual health, pregnancy and breastfeeding care
  6. Özbek Ç et al. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment During Pregnancy and Lactation: Navigating Challenges International Journal of Dermatology, 2025 — review of care during pregnancy and lactation
  7. Collier EK et al. Pregnancy and breastfeeding in hidradenitis suppurativa: A review of medication safety Dermatologic Therapy, 2021;34(2):e14674 — a review written for clinicians; a basis for medical judgement, not for self-directed decisions
  8. MedlinePlus Genetics (U.S. National Library of Medicine): Hidradenitis suppurativa Patient information on genetics; roughly 30 to 40 per cent of affected people have at least one other affected family member
  9. European S2k guideline for hidradenitis suppurativa / acne inversa, part 2: treatment Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2025 — framing of treatment and self-management