An overview of the recommendations of the Working Group on Asthma and Pregnancy. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program

Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical disease complicating pregnancy, and uncontrolled asthma during pregnancy may produce both maternal and fetal complications. The Working Group on Asthma and Pregnancy was established by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) to address the issues surrounding asthma management during pregnancy, working within the background of the NAEPP's published asthma guidelines. The Working Group's report, published in 1993, presents recommendations and information for diagnosing and managing asthma during pregnancy. Some key points are: (1) asthma should be treated as aggressively in pregnant women as in nonpregnant women; (2) asthma care and obstetric care should be carefully integrated and should include monitoring of fetal growth and development, maternal symptoms, and maternal lung function; (3) as for nonpregnant women with asthma, medications used to treat asthma during pregnancy should include a short-acting symptom reliever medication (usually an inhaled short-acting beta2 -agonist) and long-term daily medication to address the underlying inflammation for all patients with more than mild, intermittent disease.

Published by The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, 1999. The guideline itself is at the source linked here.

doi.org/10.1016/s0091-6749(99)70261-7