Chronic headache and migraine in pregnancy

Abstract

The clinical picture of headaches in pregnancy is a therapeutic challenge through the effects of drugs on the mother and fetus. Headache during pregnancy can be primary or secondary to a severe condition that can endanger the patient’s life (stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis, eclampsia, brain tumors, choriocarcinoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage). Differentiating the type of headache requires a series of investigations: electroencephalography, vascular ultrasound, brain MRI and MRI angiography, and contrast ophthalmoscopy. The evolution without treatment of this pain causes depression, stress, sleep deficit, and malnutrition with disastrous consequences for the mother and fetus. Therapeutic management for the treatment of headaches should be initially non-pharmacological, and low-risk fetal drugs should be used in the absence of a response.