Pregnancy and Motherhood for a Woman with SMA

Carli Hamilton was diagnosed at age 2 with the degenerative neuromuscular disease spinal muscular atrophy. Though she wanted to be a mother once she got married, she feared passing the disease onto a child. She and her husband had genetic counseling to see if he was a carrier, but when her best friend became pregnant and told her that it was the hardest thing she had ever done and didn’t think Hamilton would be able to do it, she and her husband figured they would adopt. Nevertheless, Hamilton soon learned she was pregnant and today her daughter is 2. Hamilton, who has chronicled her pregnancy and motherhood on Instagram, discussed what pregnancy was like, how she handles the physical demands of motherhood, and what advice she would offer other SMA patients thinking of becoming pregnant.