When Tenna Perry, a mother of three from Porter, Texas, became pregnant with her second child, she got more than she bargained for. She also developed asthma. "When I was pregnant with my second child, I started getting a tightness in my chest," says Perry. "I kept trying to get a deep breath and couldn't. One night when I was about 5 months pregnant, I finally called my OB and he could hear me wheezing over the phone."

Though Perry had never had asthma she knew what the symptoms were because her brother had it. The doctor prescribed Albuterol and sent her in for some tests. He then put her on Flovent as well as the Albuterol. "He said he expected it to disappear when the baby was born, but it didn't," says Perry. "Ten years later, I am still using the inhalers and have attacks about once every two to three months."

Many women with asthma worry about how their condition may affect their unborn child. Research indicates they have a reason to be concerned. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), asthma affects up to 8 percent of pregnant women and can get worse during pregnancy in approximately 30 percent of women.

A recent news release put out by the AAAAI states that due to a decreased amount of oxygen in the asthmatic mother's blood, there is a direct relationship between low birth weight and uncontrolled asthma. Because a fetus requires a constant supply of oxygen for normal growth and development, decreased oxygen can lead to impaired fetal growth and survival.

Dr. Robert Atlas, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., says there is more and more data suggesting doctors need to treat patients with asthma much more carefully and aggressively. "There is some thought that there is an increased risk of fetal growth abnormalities in severe asthmatics, and even in the mild asthmatic there are concerns over growth and well-being," he says.

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