Advancing Care at the Intersection of Rheumatology and Pregnancy: Key Takeaways from RheumaPreg 2025

At RheumaPreg 2025, global experts gathered to explore one of the most complex and critical challenges in rheumatology: how best to support women of childbearing age (WoCBA) living with chronic inflammatory diseases. The congress highlighted just how far the field has come—and how much work is still needed to ensure these women receive the care, understanding and research inclusion they deserve.

Breaking Down Silos: A Collaborative Future
There was a powerful message that carried throughout the congress: we need to protect women through research, not from research.

The message echoed across sessions, aligned with UCB’s commitment – to protect women through research, not from research.

The care of individuals living with rheumatic diseases during reproductive years can no longer be managed within traditional clinical silos. It requires a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach involving rheumatologists, obstetricians, neonatologists, researchers, and—critically—those living with chronic severe diseases. This call to action aims to shift perceptions and practices that have historically excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women living with chronic conditions from clinical research.

In addition, the need for high-quality, comparative data from prospective pregnancy registries was widely acknowledged, and so was the continued barrier posed by the lack of standardized definitions across studies.

Empowering Women’s Choices: UCB’s Commitment
UCB proudly sponsored the symposium “Empowering Women’s Choices: Optimising Care for WoCBA with Chronic Inflammatory Diseases,” which placed a spotlight on the pressing need to bridge data gaps and encourage early, informed conversations around treatment options. The engaging session emphasized UCB’s long-standing commitment to advancing care in WoCBA. A highlight of this session was the insightful conversation where the patient panelist shared her perspective on navigating motherhood while living with lupus.

“I grew up with the notion it would be challenging to become a mother,” said Lynette, a patient on the panel who spoke to her experiences living with lupus. “Motherhood has always been something I’ve thought about from a young age … knowing that it would be possible from the onset of diagnosis would have given me more hope.”

Her words reflect the profound emotional impact that uncertainty around pregnancy and chronic disease can have—and underscore why access to timely, personalized information matters.

Patient Perspectives and Research Inclusion
Across multiple sessions, the importance of hearing directly from patients was emphasized—particularly in areas like family planning and breastfeeding. One standout masterclass focused on the inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women in clinical research. It called for increased education, both for patients and healthcare providers, to foster informed, confident participation in research efforts.

Furthermore, a roundtable on pregnancy registries explored the ongoing challenge of harmonizing data definitions to enable meaningful research comparisons. While progress has been made, there is a clear need for unified international standards.

A Decade of Progress—and the Road Ahead
We are encouraged to witness the shift from simply acknowledging the lack of research to actively developing and adopting strategies for improvement. Over the past decade, the conversation has evolved from recognizing gaps to implementing solutions.

UCB remains committed to supporting this evolution—working alongside the scientific community, regulators, and patients—to create a future where women with chronic diseases can navigate pregnancy with clarity, confidence and care.