Asthma and pregnancy

1) How does pregnancy affect asthma?

Pregnant woman

Pregnant woman

The information in this section may be useful if you are pregnant or are planning a pregnancy.

      It is not possible to predict how your asthma  will react when you are pregnant but studies have shown that:
  • One third of women with asthma actually have improved symptoms while pregnant.
  • One third will have no change in their asthma.
  • One third will report some worsening of their asthma symptoms, most commonly between 24 to 36 weeks of pregnancy.

If you have severe asthma it is more likely to worsen during pregnancy that for those women with mild asthma.

However it is very rare for women to have asthma symptoms during labour and birth as your body produces natural hormones, cortisone and adrenalin which help to protect you and your baby.