Being a mother is the most difficult of jobs. Right from conception, to the pregnancy phase, from delivery to child's further growth, a mother has to cope with many things, both physical and psychological. 

During the pregnancy phase, a woman undergoes several changes in her body. Many of these changes even pose some threat to her health. As a result of which she turns prone to many diseases and other pregnancy healthy discomforts. One of them happens to be Asthma. In general, it is quite troublesome and when it occurs to a pregnant woman, the risk doubles. 

Asthma before pregnancy

If you have been an asthmatic patient before you got pregnant and have been taking some medications to put the condition under control, you would now want to discontinue the use of all those medications fearing the baby might be put to some risk. While you are trying to run away from danger, you could very well be running into it. Your keeping off your medications without consulting your health-care provider could be a colossal mistake. 

The risk which an unborn baby faces with the ingestion of asthma medications is minimal compared to the risk of experiencing a severe asthma attack. There are more chances that such babies would be born premature or underweight at birth. There may even be causes that would warrant longer hospitalization after delivery.

When asthma remains uncontrolled during pregnancy, you are at a greater risk of suffering hypertension or preeclampsia. Now when this happens, your baby becomes placed at risk too. 

Some Symptoms and Causes of Asthma

The symptoms of asthma as seen during pregnancy are not expected to be the same from what is seen at any other time. It may yet be seen that each woman with asthma would not respond the same way to pregnancy. 

Preventive Measures

There are some steps you can take to prevent the attack of asthma during pregnancy. It is good that you understand yourself and how things work with you during pregnancy. This will help you to decide what steps you should take for total prevention of asthma during pregnancy or reducing it to the barest minimum. 

Flu Shot

This is also referred to as the influenza shot or vaccine which is taken in order to prevent the attack of flu. When a pregnant woman who is asthmatic gets infected with flu, she becomes more vulnerable to a severe asthma attack. A severe asthma attack is capable of depriving the unborn baby of much needed oxygen. For women who suffer asthma and observe that they are down with flu, influenza vaccine is recommended in both the second and third trimesters of their pregnancy. The use of the vaccine in the first trimester is not advised because the safety of the fetus with the vaccine is questionable.

Allergy Shots

If you have been taking allergy shots before you became pregnant and no severe reaction was observed, the shots should be continued during the pregnancy. It is noteworthy however that you can not start allergy shots during pregnancy.

There are several known negative effects of asthma attacks on pregnancy. When poorly controlled, asthma can be linked with premature birth and stillbirths. The best way to prevent asthma during pregnancy is to avoid an attack by keeping away from the triggers. Also let your action plan include regular visits to your health-care provider throughout the period of pregnancy.