Asthma During Pregnancy
Being pregnant is a wonderful time for a lot of women. There is also a large responsibility for the life of the unborn child that is growing inside. Being an asthma sufferer could cause you an even greater concern. What would happen if you had an asthma attack and your oxygen intake lowered? Would this harm your child? These thoughts and concerns are understandable and you must speak to your doctor for advice and reasssurance.
Your concerns are justified, since asthma during pregnancy can provide additional risk for you and your baby. The good news is that asthma can usually be effectively controlled during your pregnancy, greatly increasing the probability that you will carry your baby for a healthy nine-month term.
Most expectant mothers worry about any and all medications that they must take during pregnancy. If you have daily medicines that you take to control your asthma, you might be tempted to stop using them for fear of harming your baby. Most of the time, your fear is unfounded. Many medications that are used to treat asthma are safe to use during pregnancy.
A much greater risk would be to go off of your medication and suffer from severe asthma attacks as a result during your pregnancy. Still, you should talk to your doctor about the medications that you are taking. The best time to do this is before you get pregnant, but this is not always a possible scenario. The most important thing to remember is that you should not stop current prescriptions or begin new therapies until you have checked with your doctor as to the safety and effectiveness of each medication.
It is hard to predict how asthma might affect your pregnancy. The odds are split fairly even. For about a third of expectant moms, asthma symptoms became worse during pregnancy. Another third found an improvement in asthma symptoms and the rest saw no real difference. If your asthma was mild before your pregnancy began, the odds are in your favor for having a healthy pregnancy with few asthma problems throughout.
If your asthma seems harder to control during your pregnancy, you will possibly find the last three months the hardest. Normally around three months after the birth of your baby your asthma symptoms will return to normal.