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If you are a woman with asthma who is pregnant, you may be worried about how it will affect your baby. You must be scared that the medications you may be taking to control your asthma will affect him. You may even be wondering whether you would be able to breast-feed your baby.
Some facts and figures
It is difficult to predict exactly what effect pregnancy will have on asthma. One large study found that asthma worsened during pregnancy in 35 percent of women, improved in 28 percent and remained the same in 33 percent.
"About one-third of the women will get better, one-third will get worse, and one-third will stay the same", said Michael Schatz, an allergist and clinical professor at UC San Diego during a presentation at the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology conference in San Diego.
Interestingly, in one fairly small study it was found that asthmatic women who gave birth to girls were twice as likely to have worsened symptoms during pregnancy than those who gave birth to boys. This may be because of hormonal differences.
The medicines you take
Most asthma medications do not appear to harm an unborn baby. As you are well aware, a variety of medications are used to treat asthma. Some of them are through inhalation, some are given orally, and in certain cases of severe attacks, some are given intravenously or by injection. A considerable amount of preliminary evidence available shows that all these drugs are safe in pregnancy.
You must control your asthma
It is well known that the known risks of uncontrolled asthma are far greater than the known risks from asthma medications to both mother and foetus. So you must take your medicines. However, as in all chronic illnesses, you should try and stick to only one type of medication when possible and use the minimum dose for the shortest possible period. Remember when you are pregnant you are breathing for two It is important to keep your asthma under good control, because breathing difficulties in the mother affect the foetus by restricting the supply of oxygen.
Women with controlled asthma have no more complications during pregnancy and giving birth than non-asthmatic women. However, when asthma is uncontrolled during pregnancy, it can produce serious maternal and foetal complications.
Uncontrolled asthma is associated with complications such as:
We know that almost all medications enter breast milk, though the babies are generally exposed to very low concentrations of these drugs. Hence, the medications that you take for your asthma rarely present problems for the infant during breast-feeding. But to be on the safe side and to be mentally more at peace you can keep the concentration of these drugs to the lowest minimum, by taking the necessary medications 15 minutes after nursing or three to four hours before the next feeding.
When you plan having the baby
The use of asthma or allergy medication during pregnancy needs to be discussed with your doctor, ideally before you get pregnant. Therefore, let your doctor know whenever you are planning to discontinue birth control methods or as soon as you know that you are pregnant.
To keep your asthma under control, regular follow up for evaluation of asthma symptoms and medications will be necessary throughout your pregnancy, which means continuing your prescribed medications and reporting any change in your symptoms to your doctor. It is even possible that you may need an increase in your dosage or additional medications once you become pregnant.
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