Rheumatologists don’t always ask their female patients this question, but, according to US rheumatologist Dr Bonnie Bermas from UT Southwestern in Dallas, it’s really quite important.The ‘One Key Question’ is: “Are you planning on becoming pregnant in the next year?”The conversations about contraception and pregnancy planning are often out of the “comfort zone” of rheumatologists, says Dr Bermas.But this is a topic that rheumatologists should bring up with their patients to kickstart a conversation about disease control during pregnancy.Rheumatoid arthritis patients are at a greater risk for pregnancy complications if their disease is more active, says Dr Bermas.“We have a lot of data that show that pregnancies do best when they are planned and disease is under good control,” she says.