Around one-third of women find that their asthma symptoms improve in pregnancy, one third remain the same and one third find their asthma gets worse. In cases where asthma gets worse, medication can be increase. Your asthma treatment will not harm your baby. The baby will do best if you are breathing well and easily, so it is important that your asthma is well controlled.

Most asthma medicines are inhaled and are safe for your baby. Inhaled preventers and relievers go straight to the airways and very little is absorbed into the bloodstream; therefore it is highly unlikely that it will reach the baby. If high doses of inhaled steroids are used, it is recommended that a spacer device be used to reduce the risk of absorption.

Severe asthma in pregnancy may require treatment with steroid tablets. Short courses of one to two weeks can do no harm to the baby. Occasionally, people with severe asthma need to take steroid tablets for a longer period. Using steroid tablets for long periods or repeatedly during pregnancy may increase the risk of the baby being born underweight. In severe long-term asthma, you and your doctor will have weighed up the risks against the benefits of using steroid tablets.

Chest infections during pregnancy may occasionally need to be treated with antibiotics. Commonly used ones like amoxycillin are safe but others, such as tetracycline, are not used in pregnancy. If you are concerned ask your doctor or practice nurse.

If you want to give your baby the best start in life, neither you nor your partner should smoke.

It is unusual to have an asthma attack during labour, but if you do get wheezy, use your reliever inhaler, as normal. Talk to your doctor or midwife beforehand about drawing up a birth plan, which will take your asthma into account and help allay any fears you might have.

Pain control methods during labour, including epidurals, are all safe for women with
asthma. Operations are not a problem provided the anaesthetist knows about your asthma.

Caring for your baby
During pregnancy it is important to have a healthy, balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables, which will ensure that the baby gets all the nutrition he or she needs. There is no convincing evidence that avoiding any foods during pregnancy will help prevent your baby from developing asthma. There is, however, evidence that allergy to peanuts may develop in the womb. Current Government advice is that if anyone in the immediate family has an allergic condition such as asthma, hay fever or eczema, the mother should avoid eating peanuts and food containing peanut products while pregnant and when breast feeding.

Some studies have shown that breast feeding in the first few months of life may reduce the chance of your baby developing allergic conditions, including asthma. Breast-feeding also reduces the risk of babies developing intestinal illnesses and other infections.

Your inhaled asthma medicine will not affect your baby when you breast feed. Normal doses of inhaled steroids do not enter the bloodstream. However, steroid tablets can sometimes be present in breast milk in very small quantities, but too little to have a harmful effect on your baby.

Asthma medicines do not affect your ability to produce breast milk. The possibility of developing food allergy appears to be less likely if certain foods are introduced into the baby’s diet later rather than sooner. It is recommended that babies be breast or bottle fed until they are at least six months old, and that other foods be introduced gradually.

If members of a child’s family have allergies, peanuts and foods containing peanuts should ideally not be included in the diet until a child is three years old.

The chance of a child developing asthma is higher if both parents have asthma. If only the mother has asthma, the chances of the child developing it are higher than if only the father has asthma.

For more information, contact the Asthma Society of Ireland on freephone, 1850 44 54 64.

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