As you approach the end of your pregnancy, it's natural to have questions and concerns about your asthma and how it may affect the delivery and your upcoming time as a new parent.
Regarding the delivery, it's important that you feel safe and informed. Communicate with your delivery team about your asthma medications and any questions or concerns you may have. During delivery, you have a right to the same care as other expectant mothers.
Even as a new mother, it's obviously important that you feel well and experience as few asthma symptoms as possible. The concentration of asthma medications in breast milk (including cortisone tablets) is so low that the risk of affecting the baby is unlikely. Therefore, treatment during breastfeeding usually does not differ from the treatment you received before or during pregnancy.
Just like any other point in pregnancy, it's important to follow and take your treatment as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
What should I know when it comes to asthma and childbirth?
As with any illness, it's important to communicate with the delivery staff about any medications you're taking and any illnesses you have. This includes asthma, and of course, you should also have your medications and inhalers close at hand during delivery.
You should continue to take your asthma medications even during delivery. The delivery process itself is not affected by your asthma, and you will receive the same care as a non-asthmatic.
An acute worsening of asthma during delivery is rare, but if it does occur, you will receive treatment to alleviate the worsening so that the delivery can proceed. In fact, some of the pain relief methods (such as epidural anesthesia) available during delivery actually improve oxygen uptake. Talk to your midwife at the maternity clinic about the different pain relief options if you are curious about which might be most beneficial for you.
Post-delivery, asthma usually does not worsen, and in women whose asthma worsened during pregnancy, it typically returns to its original state within three months after delivery.
Can I breastfeed if I take asthma medications?
Even as a new mother, it's obviously important that you feel well and have no symptoms from your asthma. The concentration of asthma medications in breast milk (including cortisone tablets) is so low that the risk of affecting the baby is unlikely. Therefore, treatment after delivery usually does not differ from the treatment you received before or during pregnancy.
Just like any other point in pregnancy, it's important to follow and take your treatment as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
Is there a risk that my child will develop asthma?
A combination of lifestyle, environment, and genetics, with genetics being the biggest risk factor, is what likely determines who gets asthma. Therefore, it's difficult to say whether your child will develop asthma.
Is there anything I can do to reduce the risk of my child developing asthma?
Asthma often develops early in life, and studies show that air pollution and many respiratory infections during early childhood are two important factors linked to asthma. It's important as a parent to remember that there's nothing that completely eliminates the risk of developing asthma, but there are some preventive measures.
Breastfeeding/breast milk is known to protect to some extent against both viral infections and asthma-like respiratory symptoms and is therefore recommended until the child is four months old. It is still unclear whether breastfeeding protects against allergies and eczema.
Exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy can definitively increase the risk of asthma in the unborn child. The most important thing you as a pregnant person can do to protect your child against impaired lung function and respiratory problems is to avoid smoke exposure and refrain from smoking during and after pregnancy. Talk to your healthcare provider if you need advice on using nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking, as some products are not recommended during pregnancy.
Low birth weight has also shown an increased risk of developing asthma in combination with other risk factors. The risk of low birth weight increases with uncontrolled asthma in pregnant women, which is why it’s important that you follow your treatment recommendations and seek care if your asthma is not controlled.
Once a child is past infancy, there are other preventive factors to reduce the risk of developing asthma. Providing your child with a varied diet, preferably with fish several times a week, seems to reduce the risk of asthma. Note that being overweight is a key factor that increases the risk of asthma. In addition, having asthma increases the risk of becoming overweight.
Children exposed to high levels of air pollution from traffic during their first years of life also have a greater risk of developing asthma and impaired lung function.
With the information above, it is important to emphasize that as a parent, you cannot completely eliminate the risk of your child developing asthma. Genetics constitute the primary and most significant risk factor, and it can be difficult to drastically adapt your lifestyle, especially in urban environments where many children grow up. If your child does develop asthma, there is very effective treatment available, and in some cases, the asthma may disappear after the early childhood years (this asthma is often called "cold-induced asthma"). With the right treatment and adequate care, children usually have the opportunity to live a normal and active life despite their asthma symptoms.
Summary_ Continue to take your asthma medications at least to the same extent as before you became pregnant. Untreated asthma is a greater risk to the fetus than the potential risks associated with the medications.
Studies support that long-term treatment with astma medications as inhaled cortisone, bronchodilators, or antileukotrienes does not show any association with premature birth or an increased amount of fetal abnormalities.
There is no reason to avoid taking or reduce asthma medication dosage during delivery or when breastfeeding.
What Tools Can I Use to Ensure That My Asthma Is Controlled During the End of Pregnancy, Delivery, and Even After the Child Is Born? Carefully monitoring your asthma is crucial to achieve control over the symptoms, maintain normal lung function, ensure a positive prognosis for your asthma, and to ensure that your medication is optimal without the risk of under- or over-medication. MediTuner offers a digital solution for monitoring your asthma. By using this app in combination with a portable lung function meter, you can easily follow the status of your asthma and adjust your treatment as needed.
References:
- Astma- & allergiförbundet
- BAMSE
- Nationellt kliniskt kunskapsstöd
- janusinfo.se
- 1177.se