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Asthma Attacks and Pregnancy

Could Asthma Attacks During the First Trimester Put Baby at Risk?

By Teri Brown

A new study on asthma and pregnancy, performed by Canadian researchers Dr. Lucie Blais and Amelie Forget, was published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The research suggests that asthma attacks early in pregnancy put Baby at greater risk of birth defects.

According to a recent press release from The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), uncontrolled asthma during the first trimester of pregnancy greatly increases the risk of birth defects in babies. The researchers concluded that women who had an asthma flare-up in the first three months of pregnancy were 48 percent more likely to have a baby with at least one congenital defect than asthmatic mothers who did not have a flare-up in the first trimester.

Dr. Asriani Chiu, an associate professor of Pediatrics and Medicine (Allergy/Immunology) and program director for the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin, says the results of the study were not surprising, but supported past findings. "Other studies have shown that pregnant mothers with asthma that is not well controlled have poorer outcomes for the baby," Dr. Chiu says. "But what was unique about this study is that the authors compared pregnant asthmatics that had exacerbations early in pregnancy, with other pregnant asthmatics who didn't have exacerbations. The past studies compared asthmatic mothers to non-asthmatic mothers, and didn't focus only on the early part of pregnancy (which is so important in the developmental stage)."

Want to see more?

• Asthma When Breathing for Two: How Does Asthma Affect Pregnancy?
• Atopic Diseases and the Breastfeeding Connection: Can Breastfeeding Reduce the Risk of Asthma, Atopic Dermatitis and Food Allergies?
• Expecting to Sneeze: Allergies During Pregnancy
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