News Moms Need

Asthma is a lung disease that causes your airways to tighten up, making it hard for you to breathe. Asthma affects 4 to 8 out of every 100 pregnant women (4 to 8 percent). If you keep your asthma under control, it probably won’t cause any problems during your pregnancy. So, it’s really important to keep all your prenatal care appointments and work with your health care provider to keep your asthma in check. If you don’t control your asthma, you may be at risk for a serious health problem called preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a certain kind of high blood pressure that only pregnant women get and can result in poor fetal growth and other pregnancy complications.

Your health care provider needs to monitor your lungs while you’re pregnant so he can adjust your asthma medicines, if needed. Tell your provider if your symptoms improve or get worse. By limiting your contact with allergens and other asthma triggers, you may need to take less medicine to control your symptoms.

Lots of women ask if it’s safe to take asthma medicine during pregnancy. If asthma symptoms don’t stop or get worse, they can be a risk to you and your baby. If you were taking asthma medicine before pregnancy, don’t stop taking it without talking to your provider first. If you’re diagnosed with asthma during pregnancy, talk to your provider about the best way to treat or manage it.

If you’re already getting allergy shots, you can keep taking them during pregnancy. But if you aren’t getting allergy shots, don’t start taking them when you’re pregnant because you could have a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.

Asthma symptoms often change during pregnancy. Sometimes they get better and sometimes they get worse. We don’t really understand what causes these changes. If your asthma is not well controlled or if your asthma is moderate to severe, your provider may recommend repeated ultrasounds to check to make sure your baby’s growing normally.

Only about 1 in 10 pregnant women with asthma (10 percent) have symptoms during labor and birth. Take your usual asthma medicines during labor and birth. If you still have asthma symptoms, don’t panic, your health care provider can help control them.

Want to know more? Read our info on asthma during pregnancy, that includes symptoms, common triggers and how to avoid them, treatments, and medications during breastfeeding.

The FDA says users of epinephrine inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) should plan now to get a prescription for a replacement product because these inhalers will not be made or sold after Dec. 31, 2011. Epinephrine inhalers, marketed by Armstrong Pharmaceutical Inc. as Primatene Mist, are the only FDA-approved inhalers for the temporary relief of occasional symptoms of mild asthma that are sold over-the-counter in retail stores without a prescription. The product uses CFCs to propel the medicine out of the inhaler so that consumers can breathe it into their lungs.

No CFC-containing epinephrine inhalers can be made or sold after Dec. 31, 2011, to comply with obligations made under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This is an international agreement signed by the United States, in which countries agreed to phase-out substances that deplete the ozone layer, including CFCs, after certain dates.

If you or your children use one of these inhalers, speak to your health care provider now about switching to another product. For information, read the FDA news release. 

For those of us impacted by flooding from wicked weather, it is important to know that a newly published study revealed that exposure to household mold in infancy greatly increases a child’s risk of developing asthma.

Researchers with the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study analyzed seven years of data collected from 176 children who were followed from infancy. These children were considered at high risk of developing asthma because of a family medical history of asthma.

By age seven, 18% of the children in the study developed asthma. Those who lived in homes with mold during infancy were three times more likely to develop asthma by age 7 than those who were not exposed to mold when they were infants.

“Early life exposure to mold seems to play a critical role in childhood asthma development,” lead author Tiina Reponen, a professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati, said in a university news release. ”Genetic factors are also important to consider in asthma risk, since infants whose parents have an allergy or asthma are at the greatest risk of developing asthma.”

“This study should motivate expectant parents—especially if they have a family history of allergy or asthma—to correct water damage and reduce the mold burden in their homes to protect the respiratory health of their children,” added Reponen.

If you have suffered water damage, take care to make sure you have no mold growing in your home. This link will take you to articles from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protectioin Agency (EPA) on cleaning up mold.

The air quality index (AQI) tells you how healthy the air is to breathe each day. It tells you how clean your air is or how polluted it is with solid particles and gases. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.

Harmful ozone forms when pollutants react to heat and sunlight. This is why we see more smog in the spring and summer. You probably have noticed your local weather report now includes a number or color for each day’s AQI. It’s important to pay attention to this. Here’s a link to a chart that explains the air quality index.

For their size, children take in more air (and pollution) than adults when they breathe. Their young lungs are continually growing and their airways are more likely to narrow in reaction to pollutants. When running around, which is most of the time in our house, children breathe faster and more deeply than adults. This can bring the pollutants in the air further into their lungs.

Children with respiratory ailments, asthma or other breathing difficulties should be kept indoors when the AQI rises. Keep an eye on your local AQI and adapt your planned activities for the day if necessary. It’s important to follow their doctor’s instructions for asthma treatments and to have assistive devices (like inhalers) nearby when the AQI is high.

Any illness that affects breathing can be more serious during pregnancy. If you have asthma, it may stay the same, worsen or improve during pregnancy. If you have moderate to severe asthma, you’re at increased risk of an asthma attack during the third trimester of pregnancy and during labor and delivery, so you and your doc need to keep a careful eye on it to keep it under control.

Poorly controlled asthma can deprive the baby of oxygen, increasing the risk of premature birth (before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy), poor fetal growth and low birthweight (less than 5½ pounds). Babies who are born too soon and too small are at increased risk of newborn health problems, such as breathing difficulties, and lasting disabilities, such as mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Women with poorly controlled asthma also are more likely to develop preeclampsia, a pregnancy-related form of high blood pressure that can result in poor fetal growth and other pregnancy complications.

About 70 percent of people with asthma have allergies. Fortunately, if a woman is already receiving allergy shots, she can safely continue them in pregnancy. However, women should not start allergy shots for the first time during pregnancy because of the slight risk of a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.

Luckily, most asthma medicines are safe in pregnancy. A pregnant woman should never stop her asthma medicine without the advice of her health care provider because persistent or worsening asthma symptoms can pose a risk to her and her baby. Want to know more?  Read our info on asthma and pregnancy, symptoms,  common triggers and how to avoid them, treatments, and medications during breastfeeding.

Air pollution can lead to inflamed airways, which can cause breathing problems such as asthma.

It makes  sense:  When the air is cleaner, children breathe easier. An article in the March issue of the medical journal Pediatrics reported these research results. 

So what can parents do to help their children breathe the cleanest air possible? Moving to the country where the air is clean is a good idea. But that’s probably hard for most of us!

Here are some tips:

* When local health agencies issue air pollution or smog alerts, keep your child indoors. If you must take your baby out on these days, do so early in the morning or after sunset.

* Don’t use paint sprayers around your child.

* Keep air conditioning units, heaters, furnaces, wood stoves and fireplaces in good working order.

* If your baby has asthma or other lung problems, ask her health care provider what else you can do.

For more ideas, read the March of Dimes article Protecting Your Baby from Air Pollution.

Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to secondhand smoke each week, according to a new survey by three prominent institutions.  Even though we have come a long way in reducing second hand smoke over the past decade, the Social Climate Survey of Tobacco found that 4 out of every 10 children are exposed to secondhand smoke each week.

We have the power to make changes that protect our children and it certainly is within our children’s best interests to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure.  Babies who are exposed to smoke suffer from more lower-respiratory illnesses (such as bronchitis and pneumonia) and ear infections than do other babies. Babies who are exposed to their parents’ smoke after birth also may face an increased risk of asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). And the danger starts even before a child is born.  Studies suggest that babies of women who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy may have reduced growth and may be more likely to be born with low birthweight.  Pregnant women should avoid exposure to other people’s smoke.

Various studies have concluded that secondhand smoke is just as dangerous as cigarette smoking.  This week’s new research coincides with the launch of a new partnership between Parents® magazine and the American Legacy Foundation, Parents Quit for Good.   If you’re a smoker, visit their site and try making quitting your New Year’s resolution.

Some Inhalers Will Be Phased Out
Certain asthma inhalers will no longer be available after December 31. Some old-style inhalers use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs damage the environment by destroying the ozone layer.

New inhalers are better for the environment. The new devices work differently and will cost more. Because they are brand-name drugs, not generics, the price will be higher.

So if you or your children use an asthma inhaler, talk with your health care provider and your insurance company. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has more info.

Serevent and Foradil Not Recommended for Children
An FDA advisory committee has recommended that chidren not use two asthma drugs Serevent and Foradil, according to The New York Times. These drugs may increase the risk of death if they are not used with a steroid. The FDA is considering the committee’s recommendation before making an official ruling. If you have questions about these two drugs, talk to your health care provider.

Yesterday the Today program had a segment on peanuts and pregnancy. The March of Dimes has reviewed the new research study from Holland mentioned on Today. Here’s what we think.

For women who do not have a history of nut allergies, peanuts and peanut butter can be a good source of folate and protein as part of healthy, diverse diet. Women with nut allergies should always avoid eating nut products, not just while pregnant or breastfeeding.

A mother who has a nut allergy, or who has a close relative who does, should not eat peanuts or peanut products while breastfeeding.  Her children have a greater than average risk of developing peanut allergies.

Women with a strong family history of serious allergies (such as asthma, atopic dermatitis or allergic rhinitis) should check with a doctor trained in food allergies about whether they should eat peanuts.

For more information, read Peanuts, Folic Acid and Peanut Allergies. 

The last few weeks, I feel like I have been living in a sponge.  Now after all the rain we have had, my husband and I are on the lookout for mold.  Mold is something that exists everywhere there is moisture.  We can’t get away from it, but we can try to clean it out of our homes for a safer living environment.  Read more about protecting your baby from mold.

Mold growth often looks like spots. It can be many different colors, including green and grey, and it can smell musty. If you can see or smell mold somewhere in your home, there may be a health risk to you and your children.

Some people are bothered more by mold than others. A baby who is sensitive to mold may have:
• A runny nose
• A scratchy throat
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Red or itchy eyes
• A skin rash
Sometimes reactions can be more serious. Mold can cause asthma attacks. Babies who have serious lung problems are at greater risk than other babies.

With all the horrendous storms that have been pounding down across the United States, rain has become an enemy to many communities.  Once the floodwaters subside, mold is something we really need to guard against.  The EPA says if you suspect that the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system may be contaminated with mold (it is part of an identified moisture problem, for instance, or there is mold near the intake to the system), consult EPA’s guide Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned? before taking further action. Do not run the HVAC system to help dry the place out if you know or suspect that it is contaminated with mold - it could spread mold throughout the building.  Here is where you can read more about flood cleanup.