Asthma and Pregnancy
Pregnancy is an important and pleasant phase in a woman’s life. However many women who suffer from asthma may find asthma a legitimate concern of pregnancy. It is important to know about the effects asthma in pregnancy has on the unborn child, and what precautions are to be taken by pregnant women suffering from asthma.
The first thing to remember is that asthma is hereditary. So if someone in the family suffers from asthma, someone else in the family too suffers from it. So if you suffer from asthma, your child too may suffer from the same problem. During pregnancy, a woman’s hormones keep changing so that a third of people suffering from asthma tend to show some improvement while a third of them feel that they suffer more, while one third find no changes in their health at all.
The common symptoms of asthma are wheezing, coughing and a difficulty in breathing. The main point of concern about asthma in pregnancy is that when you suffer from an attack and find it difficult to breathe, it is because of insufficient oxygen in the body. This in turn means that the baby too receives insufficient oxygen that makes it life threatening to them.
Women on asthma medications before the pregnancy are advised to continue with the medications during pregnancy. Women are usually hesitant to taking medication during pregnancy; however if the necessary asthma medication are not taken, then its consequences are much worse than the effects of taking medication. Women suffering with asthma during pregnancy, who don’t take any medication, only leads to a baby being born pre term, small or underweight with a longer need of hospitalization.
The more severe is the asthma attack, the higher is the risk to the fetus. There have even been rare cases of death in the baby due to oxygen deprivation. Of course, do consult your doctor on the pros and cons of taking your medication before taking it, and follow doctor’s advice.
It is better to avoid asthma attacks during pregnancy, as asthma attacks only when triggered. Colds and flus, respiratory infections and bronchitis are the common causes of asthma; so avoid them by avoiding large crowds of people. Then there are other factors that trigger asthma like cigarette smoke, both first and second hand, and allergies. Floating particles like dust, pollen or dust mites tend to trigger allergies; so depending on the season, avoid these as much as possible.
However pregnant women can relax to learn that asthma flare ups in pregnancy is rare during delivery. There are a very low percentage of incidents, and usually the body returns to the normal state within three months of delivery. So it is not that you have to worry about having children if you have asthma. It is just important to be aware that asthma in pregnancy may cause complications. With the right education and knowledge on precautions to be done, you can avoid asthma by avoiding the triggers of an asthma attack.