Recently, two ar three decades ago, pregnant woman with bronchial asthma had to meet quite negative attitude which was periodically shown even by doctors. They asked unpleasant, irritating questions – “Children? Are you out of your mind”? Time passes and today the situation has considerably changed to the best. Doctors around the world agree in the general opinion – bronchial asthma doesn’t become an obex to happiness of a maternity.
However this illness doesn’t lose its mystical aura, that is why there are different wrong opinions. Some women with bronchial asthma are afraid of the aspiration to become a mother. Others assign a too big role to nature, refusing necessary treatment during pregnancy, being afraid of harmful effects of any medicamental agents during this period. Besides, treatment of asthma generated a set of myths and stereotypes.
In case of an increase in arterial pressure, the woman will have no doubts about a possibility of the childbirth on condition of the correct treatment. She will carefully follow recommendations of the doctor, limiting the amount of salt, adhering to a healthy lifestyle. The woman knows the need of drug intake for stabilization of pressure and continuation of the treatment course. When planning pregnancy the woman undergoes consultations at the doctor about the recommended and permitted medicines, she also learns the list of the forbidden drugs, buys a tonometer for the control her condition. In case the disease goes out of control the woman has to send an urgent request for the medical help. And each woman when reading these terms will tell that she would behave exactly the same – it is the only natural and reasonable way. But in a case of asthma, many people have certain doubts and disorders.
The reason of such insufficient knowledge can be the fact of the relative novelty of modern techniques of bronchial asthma treatment – a little more than 12 years. Therefore our society considers asthma a critical disease which may lead to invalidity. Not so long ago treatment of asthma was limited to fixed droppers, hormones in tablets and teofedriny as uncontrolled and insufficiently competent work with the first inhalers often provoked serious negative consequences. But in modern society the situation cardinally changed to the best – improved, safer medicines were developed, thus were created effective control methods of the disease condition on the basis of essentially new ideas of the disease nature. However, the real success may come only in the case when doctors and patients combine the efforts.
So far the modern medicine didn’t manage to develop the techniques allowing to eliminate bronchial asthma from human life forever. Asthma can not be cured though there are methods of careful and effective control of this disease.
Are there any researchers conducted?
The burden of asthma at pregnancy changes quite often. According to the available data, the course of bronchial asthma improves at this time, at some women – worsens, others don’t undergo serious changes. Though asthma doesn’t usually change during the first trimester of pregnancy. But the strict scientific analysis of the matter was not so optimistic – the course of asthma improves only in 14% of cases. Therefore, you should not center special hopes on such probability, believing that problems will leave your life. Responsibility for the pregnancy course and destiny of the child lies on the woman and competence of the doctor.
Asthma doesn’t provoke a complication of pregnancy or disturbance in fetation (the only exception is rising probability of toxicosis at the woman). Not bronchial asthma, but bad control of this disease leads to the main problems. Hypoxia is a special threat to the child (oxygen deficiency in the blood), which provokes an uncontrollable course of asthma. At the emergence of a dyspnea, not only mother faces the difficulty of respiration, but also the child who lacks oxygen. The hypoxia can also lead to disturbances in fetation during the vulnerable periods and affect the child’s organs form. To give a birth to a healthy kid the woman needs to undergo the corresponding treatment, taking into account severity of illness: that is needed for prophylaxis of symptoms acceleration and development of oxygen starvation of a fetus.
If bronchial asthma is under worthy control, the forecast for the child will be similar to the children born to the women who don’t have this disease. Therefore the questions of asthma treatment are so important during pregnancy, as well as prophylaxis of respiration difficulty. At bronchial asthma, the woman needs more careful medical observation in comparison with the period before pregnancy.
How should we arrange treatment for pregnant women?
Treatment of the pregnant woman has to be initiated and controlled in an individual order by the expert. Any drugs, even vitamins, can be used only on condition of coordination with the attending physician. Training of the woman becomes an important component of asthma treatment during pregnancy. Asthma enters the category of illnesses at which patients need to understand the nature of the disease, with the reasons of an exacerbation and knowledge of the correct reaction, measures, drugs, and skills of self-checking which are necessary to be chosen in case of need.
It’s safe for you to use an asthma inhaler during pregnancy. In fact, your doctor will recommend you inhaler using to keep your asthma under control. There is also no predictable pattern as to how your asthma symptoms will be influenced by pregnancy. Although most women with asthma have perfectly healthy babies, having uncontrolled asthma attacks can prevent your baby from getting enough oxygen. Poorly controlled asthma increases the risk of a premature birth, or the may be too small, even if born at full term. Inform your doctor that you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Also, tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or planning to do it.
This is the case of a special attention, as many medications can cross into human milk and because of the possibility for serious reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or stop taking this medication. Your doctor will decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of using some asthma drugs.
Ofter pregnant women ask if they are allowed to keep on using their Advair Discus inhaler. Because medications like Advair can be essential for people with asthma, healthcare providers sometimes recommend that women continue taking Advair during pregnancy. Advair Diskus and other Category C drugs can be given to a pregnant woman if the doctor thinks the benefits to her are greater than the risk to her unborn child.
If you follow all the rules and your asthma is under decent control, there is no need to be afraid of pregnancy!