Wheezing, for instance, is never a pregnancy-related symptom.
Most problems involving asthma during pregnancy are the result of inadequately treating the asthma.
These problems can affect both you and your baby.
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
Pregnancy Complications
Poorly controlled asthma can lead to complications with your pregnancy.
These complications may include:
Sometimes, one complication can lead to others.
For example, preeclampsia increases the risk of preterm birth andplacental abruption.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Therefore, it should be monitored for and managed carefully.
In fact, asthma usually improves during labor and delivery.
Fetal Complications
Asthma attacks can lower blood flow and oxygen to your baby.
This can lead to complications before and after birth and even cause life-long health issues.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Diagnosis
Your healthcare provider may newly diagnose you with asthma during your pregnancy.
But often, when that happens, the condition wasn’t new; it had just gone undiagnosed.
Asthma is not brought on by pregnancy or body changes associated with pregnancy.
People newly diagnosed with asthma during pregnancy are 2.7 times more likely to experience asthma attacks, including hospitalization.
Pregnancy can affect breathing to some degree.
So your healthcare provider may performspirometry, a pulmonary function test.
This will help your healthcare provider determine whether your symptoms are normal pregnancy-related issues or worsening asthma.
Tests will focus on vital and total lung capacity, which are not usually affected during pregnancy.
Treatment
Asthma treatment involves two thingsavoiding triggers and managing symptoms.
The most common triggers are:
Managing Symptoms
The next step is to control symptoms with medication.
In general, healthcare providers aren’t likely to prescribe a different asthma medication during pregnancy.
Some people avoid taking asthma medications during pregnancy for fear that they may harm the baby.
This can lead to asthma symptoms worsening.
But asthma itself is a greater risk to fetal development than the side effects of asthma medications.
The system notifies healthcare providers when pregnant patients with asthma go more than four months without filling a prescription.
Preferred Medications
Most healthcare providers recommend inhaled asthma medications during pregnancy.
That’s because they target the source of asthma symptoms and very little medication crosses the placenta.
In addition, several classes of medications are considered safe during pregnancy, at least in some circumstances.
Inhaledcorticosteroidsare considered the first-line treatment and are most often used during pregnancy, followed bybeta2-agonists.
But not all drugs in this category are considered safe during pregnancy.
Beta2-Agonists
These includeSABAsandLABAs.
Some controversy exists about their safety during pregnancy.
For example, albuterol is considered the safest SABA, andsalmeterolis considered the safest LABA.
Some experts argue against using SABAs alone during pregnancy.
That’s because they don’t prevent asthma attacks.
which can put your baby in danger.
Omalizumab shouldn’t be started during pregnancy because the dosage is weight-dependent.
This presents a problem with the rapid weight gain of pregnancy.
Does Your Treatment Need a Change?
Summary
Well-controlled asthma rarely causes problems during pregnancy.
Some asthma medications have risks in pregnancy, but the risks are generally less than skipping treatment.
Another third will experience less severe symptoms.
The final third will have no change in symptoms.
Having your asthma monitored and following your treatment plan is always important, but especially so during pregnancy.
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