Pregnancy affects numerous aspects of the woman’s body, including her asthma. Some women may experience an improvement in their asthma symptoms while others may experience worse asthma symptoms. There is no way to predict the severity of the symptoms that the pregnant woman may experience during pregnancy. Some people even believe that the gender of the unborn child impact a pregnant woman’s asthma symptoms during pregnancy.

A pregnant woman is likely to have worse asthma symptoms during the twenty-fourth to thirty-sixth weeks of pregnancy. The fetus is dependent on the pregnant woman’s ability to breathe for its oxygen. When the pregnant woman is struggling to breathe, the fetus may not be getting enough oxygen either. The fetus receives its oxygen needs from the mother’s blood. When the pregnant woman is not breathing well enough, the oxygen levels in her blood may drop to unsafe levels.

Asthma and pregnancy require careful asthma management. The pregnant woman needs to try to keep her asthma under control throughout the pregnancy. Pregnant women with asthma aggravated by allergens should avoid contact with allergens. If a pregnant woman has exercise-induced asthma, she should be careful to warm up before physical activity and cool down after exercise or physical activity.

If the pregnant woman has worse symptoms at night, she should avoid eating before going to bed as it may aggravate any nighttime asthma symptoms related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Since many women are supposed to take Tums antacids with calcium as a calcium supplement during pregnancy, she may want to take them shortly before bedtime if she is supposed to take them. If she requires further treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease, she should discuss it with her physician or obstetrician. A pregnant woman should do anything she can do to lessen the reliance on asthma medication and still keep her asthma controlled.

Most inhaled asthma medications have been deemed safe for use during pregnancy. Oral asthma medicines that are taken daily to prevent asthma symptoms may not be as safe. A pregnant woman may need to make changes to her asthma treatment for the sake of the baby. If a woman with asthma is pregnant or planning to become pregnant, she should talk to her doctor about any necessary changes in asthma medication. If the mother breastfeeds, she will need to continue to be cautious about asthma medicines.

Asthma and pregnancy need not be a dangerous combination. As long as asthma is properly controlled, the pregnant woman with asthma should not have any pregnancy complications related to asthma. With careful asthma management, the pregnant woman with asthma can have a healthy pregnancy.