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Asthma and Pregnancy

If you have asthma, managing it is an important part of your life.  Controlling your asthma means staying away from things that bother your airways and taking medicines as directed by your doctor.

The first question most women on medication ask when they are expecting a baby, is "Will this medicine harm my baby ?"

The good news is that all the common allergy and asthma medicines are known to be very safe during pregnancy.  So, pregnant women should be able to enjoy an asthma and allergy free pregnancy.

In fact, asthma control is especially important when for pregnant women.

With newer drugs and medicines there is often no formal information about safety in pregnancy, because women who are or might become pregnant are not allowed to take part in the safety tests during the testing of the drugs or medicines for fear of harming the baby (and facing massive lawsuits as a result).  No drug manufacturer wants to take the least risk with unborn babies.

However, older asthma treatment medicines exist, and these have been used for many decades, and long before the thalidomide catastrophe taught us that unborn babies are especially at risk.  Many of these older asthma treatments have been used during pregnancy for decades, and are known to be safe in pregnancy.

In the case of newer medicines you should avoid them in pregnancy if possible, just in case.  But there is a wide selection of older alternatives that are safe for use during pregnancy.