Having asthma during pregnancy ...

...can be a life threatening event. Asthma happens in 8 percent of all pregnancies can be life threatening to the baby. About one third will feel improvement in their condition, one third will feel worse and another one third will experience no change at all. The fetus depends on the mother for oxygen for the circulation of oxygen in the body. If the mother often has frequent asthma symptoms, the fetus does not get enough oxygen and puts the fetus in grave danger.

Pregnant woman suffering from asthma is susceptible to complicated pregnancies. These include premature birth and low birth weight of the baby. Pregnant woman suffering from chronic asthma may suffer from vaginal hemorrhage. Taking control of asthma will help to reduce the risk for complicated pregnancies.

Diagnosing asthma in woman can be difficult. Shortness of breath, one of the common symptoms of asthma is common during pregnancy. The cause of asthma appears to come from the rise progesterone levels in pregnancy. Peak flow measurement still proves to be accurate when it comes to diagnose asthma. Asthma has a tendency to change severity levels during pregnancy so a monthly inspection of the pregnant woman is done.

One main concern that pregnant woman has when going treatment is that the medication will harm their baby. The good news is that short acting beta 2 agonist drugs like albuterol which goes under common brand names like Ventolin and Proventil has deemed to be safe. The beta2 agonist may be taken through an MDI (metered dose inhaler), taken orally or through a nebulizer if necessary. Pregnant woman that suffer from mild persistent or intermittent asthma may just require the use of short acting beta2 agonist to control their asthma. Long acting beta2 agonist can be given, however since studies on their effect on pregnant woman is still limited, they are prescribed when the woman’s condition is severe enough.

Inhaled corticosteroid may be given to woman suffering from moderate to severe asthma. The drugs that have deemed the safest so far is budesonide. Studies have shown that inhaled corticosteroid has not caused deformation or other harmful outcome to the babies. Studies also have included that corticosteroid actually reduce the dosage for short term beta2 agonist and improve lung function.

Pregnant woman should also get flu shot during their 2nd and 3rd trimester’s session. The vaccine is safe for woman during pregnancy. It is important that woman get influenza vaccine as flu can aggravate asthma attack. If a pregnant woman receives an allergy shot and show no allergic reaction to it, then she should continue to get the allergy shots. However, allergy shots should not be taken during pregnancy.

During labor, any medication prescribed should be continued. During delivery however, if the pregnant woman suddenly has an attack, the obstetrician may opt for a cesarean instead. After delivery, mothers should still continue to breast feed their baby. Many asthma medications do not reach a significant level in the milk. When the mother breast feed her baby, only minute and insignificant amount of medication will ever reach the baby’s mouth.

Being pregnant can already be a traumatizing moment for most women. Having asthma will only make the experience more traumatizing. However many pregnant woman often fear their asthma medication will harm their fetus and began to reduce their dosage or stop it altogether. This is highly not recommended as not taking any medication will only result in more complication for both the mother and the child. Would be mothers should always consult their physician if they have any question about their medication before making any decision to change their medication regime.

Asthma therapy.

Most people including asthmatics and non-asthmatics alike take breathing for granted but do you know by learning how to breathe properly, you can reduce asthma symptoms and frequency of asthma attack? It may sounds a bit absurd but it true.

Learning how to breathe properly prevent the bad habit of over breathing. Another word to describe this over breathing effect is hyperventilation. Hyperventilation simply means that air is moving in and out of your body so quickly that your body is unable to take in nutrients from the air fast enough.

Therefore learning good breathing will decrease your probability of bad breathing. This simple breathing exercise focuses on strengthening the diaphragm to improve your breathing. A strengthened diaphragm can help reduce over breathing. This exercise is easy to do with enough practice. It requires only 10 minutes and you need to do it twice a day.

Now the very first thing that you need to do is that you need to find a quiet place where you won't be distracted for the next 10 minutes. Your clothing should be loose and comfortable.

Now lie on your back with one pillow under your head and another pillow under your knees.

Make sure that you relax your jaw and your mouth is wide open when you inhale. This will open your throat.

Begin to inhale deeply and when as you exhale, start counting slowly from 1 to 10 and backwards from 10 to 1 in one slow continuous motion. Now, this part is very important. The counting sounds should be below the audible sounds of a whisper.

Continue your exhaling as long as you can until you feel your lungs is urging you inhale in. So you should be experiencing a brief period of discomfort and breathlessness. Ensure that your jaws are still loose and your mouth is still wide open. Repeat the exhaling process several times with the silent counting for about five minutes.

After the silent counting process, it time to for the counting to be heard. Now what you need to do is when you exhale, start counting at audible levels from 1 to 5. So when you are exhaling, you should be counting out "One, Two, Three, Four, Five", five digits at one time.

Now you don't have to project your voice till someone in another room can hear you. Just maintain it an audible level that is the same when having conversation with someone. Repeat this process for the next five minutes and you are done.

To enhance the training, you may occasionally want to lift your knees to your chest and swing your legs from side to side. Make sure you lift your legs only during the exhaling process.

Once you practice enough and got used to the breathing, you may try doing it standing up or sitting. Soon, you may be able to do it whenever and wherever you like.

Take note that it may take up to several weeks before you will see any significant effect. One more thing to note is that please consult your doctor before commencing with this exercise.