NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women with asthma should continue to take their asthma medications, at the lowest dose needed to control symptoms, according to recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The risk to the mother and the pregnancy from such medications is lower than the risk posed by asthma flare-ups, the group advises.
"With the growing number of asthmatics in the US, it became a priority to formalize recommendations for ob-gyns, who will likely see an increasing number of asthmatic patients," Dr. Andrew J. Satin, chair of the ACOG committee, said in a statement.
Some of the key recommendations made in the guidelines, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, include gradually increasing the number and dosage of medications to match asthma severity, using inhaled corticosteroids as the first choice for controlling persistent asthma during pregnancy, and using inhaled albuterol as rescue therapy.
The guidelines also advise that most asthma medications are safe to take when women are breastfeeding.
SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, February 2008.
