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Managing asthma in pregnancy

Asthma Pregnancy
Helping with good control and advice on medicine safety are key, say Steve Holmes and Jane Scullion

The British guideline on the management of asthma was updated and published in October 2014.1 This article looks specifically at the implications for women with asthma who are planning a pregnancy.

Jennie is a 25-year-old accountant and comes to see you for an asthma review. She has good control of her asthma with a dry powder device combination inhaler of an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta agonist (LABA) used twice daily. She rarely needs to use her short-acting beta agonist.

She tells you that she is planning to become pregnant and wants to know whether she should stop her medication and what is likely to happen to her asthma during pregnancy. Jennie hopes to continue to work for as long as possible and is hoping to breastfeed. What advice do you give her?

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