The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a new Practice Bulletin that recommends that pregnant women with asthma should continue to use their asthma medication but in the lowest dosage needed to control their symptoms.
The bulletin states that women with moderate to severe asthma must be monitored for "fetal growth restriction and signs of possible preterm birth" throughout the pregnancy.
"Previously, there was limited guidance regarding the management of asthma during pregnancy," Dr. Andrew J. Satin, chairman of the ACOG's Committee on Practice Bulletins-Obstetrics, said in a prepared statement. "With the growing number of asthmatics in the U.S., it became a priority to formalize recommendations for ob-gyns, who will likely see an increasing number of asthmatic patients."
"Research consistently shows that women with well-controlled asthma can have healthy pregnancies with excellent maternal and perinatal outcomes," Dr. Mitchell P. Dombrowski, an ACOG Fellow who contributed to the new Practice Bulletin, said in a prepared statement. "The ultimate goal of controlling asthma during pregnancy is to ensure that the fetus continues to get adequate oxygen by preventing asthma attacks."
[Source: YahooNews]
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