Slack, Emma, Pears, Katrina Anne, Rankin, Judith et al. · BMJ open · 2023 · DOI
This review looked at all available research about how ME/CFS affects pregnancy and how pregnancy affects ME/CFS. Researchers found very few good quality studies on this topic. The existing studies showed mixed results: some women's ME/CFS got worse during pregnancy, some stayed the same, and some improved. The review highlights that pregnant people with ME/CFS need personalized care and extra support, but we need much more research to give clear medical guidance.
ME/CFS affects reproductive-aged individuals, yet evidence-based clinical guidance on pregnancy management is virtually nonexistent. This systematic review identifies a critical knowledge gap and demonstrates the urgent need for high-quality research to help healthcare providers support pregnant patients with ME/CFS and inform family planning decisions.
This review does not establish causal relationships between ME/CFS and adverse pregnancy outcomes, as data are too limited and heterogeneous. The findings cannot be generalized across all ME/CFS populations, and the predominance of grey literature with methodological limitations means conclusions are preliminary. The conflicting symptom trajectory findings indicate pregnancy effects are highly individual and not predictable from current evidence.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Slack, Emma, Pears, Katrina Anne, Rankin, Judith, Newton, Julia L, & Pearce, Mark (2023). Identifying, synthesising and appraising existing evidence relating to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and pregnancy: a mixed-methods systematic review.. BMJ open. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070366
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-slack-2023-identifying-synthesising,
author = {Slack, Emma and Pears, Katrina Anne and Rankin, Judith and Newton, Julia L and Pearce, Mark},
title = {Identifying, synthesising and appraising existing evidence relating to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and pregnancy: a mixed-methods systematic review.},
journal = {BMJ open},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070366},
note = {PubMed: 37798026},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/slack-2023-identifying-synthesising},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/slack-2023-identifying-synthesising
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.