Low Birth Weight
Severe cases of asthma are related to low birth weight in newborns. Research has shown that asthma exacerbation interferers with the growth of features (Murphy, Clifton & Gibson, 2006). For instance, a study from Saudi Arabia found that women with asthma had a lower mean birth weight and placenta weight as compared to women with no symptoms of asthma. Such a conclusion is supported by another study in India with the finding of pregnant women with asthma giving birth to neonates with lower birth weight than women with no asthma (Murphy et al., 2006). The relative risk of low birth weight in women who have asthma was found to be 1.46 as compared to women without asthma (Giles & Murphy, 2013). The risk factor increases with the severity of asthma, with some studies finding the risk to be 2.54 for women with asthma exacerbation during pregnancy (Giles & Murphy, 2013). This has been supported by studies conducted by Kemppainen et al. (2018) that show that increased risks of low birth weight and SGA are associated with the severity of asthma.
Medication
With the effects of asthma on pregnancy and neonates, effective treatment is necessary to achieve minimum symptoms of asthma, with less or no impact on the infant. The type of medication can help or engender the woman and her pregnancy. With diagnosis and prescription, there are cases of poor adherence to treatment that may also jeopardize both the mother and her infant. Research by Kemppainen et al. (2018) shows that asthma medication reduces the risks of preterm births but not the increased risk of SGA or perinatal deaths. However, according to Giles and Murphy (2013), some perinatal outcomes such as preterm labour and delivery can be improved with active asthma management.
Asthma medication is recommended to be used in a step-wise manner (Kemppainen et al., 2018). This involves regular assessment of control and step-wise introduction and increase of therapies (Giles & Murphy, 2013).