Asthma can cause pregnancy complications

Pregnant women with poorly controlled asthma are at increased risk for pregnancy complications and for having a low-birth weight or premature baby, a new study warns.

Researchers reviewed data from 1975 to 2009 on more than 1 million pregnant women. Pregnant women with poorly controlled asthma were 50% more likely to develop pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and 25% more likely to have a premature baby.

Infants born to mothers with asthma weighed an average of 0.2 lbs. less at birth than those born to mothers without asthma.

The study was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Asthma and pregnancy: monitor women closely

"The findings are significant and call for women with asthma to be more closely monitored during pregnancy," study leader Dr Christina Chambers, a professor of paediatrics at the University of California San Diego and program director of the non-profit California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line, said in a CTIS news release.

"It would be advisable for women on regular medications for asthma or having frequent symptoms to be monitored at least monthly during the course of their pregnancies," she suggested.

More information

The American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology provides an overview of asthma, allergies and pregnancy.

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