How Do Asthma and Its Treatment Affect Pregnancy?

Many pregnant women have asthma. To assess the effect on pregnancy of the disease and of the medications used to treat it, investigators prospectively studied 2205 pregnant women in New England: 872 who reported having physician-diagnosed asthma and 1333 without diagnosed asthma. During pregnancy, 89% of diagnosed women and 34% of women without diagnoses experienced asthma symptoms or used asthma medications. Asthma symptoms were defined as chest tightness, persistent cough, or wheezing at least once during pregnancy.

In multivariable-adjusted analyses, preterm delivery was not associated with asthma diagnosis but was associated with use of oral steroids or theophylline. Gestation length was more than 2 weeks shorter among women who used ora…