Are inhaled corticosteroids safe in pregnancy?
Using inhaled corticosteroids to control mild or moderate asthma in pregnancy can prevent asthma attacks and being hospitalised for asthma attacks in pregnancy. Inhaled budesonide has been tested particularly well in pregnancy and probably does not harm the baby. Asthma is a common disease, and so it is common in pregnant women as well. Perhaps 5 – 8% of pregnant women have asthma. The physical changes that happen during pregnancy will make some women’s asthma get worse, especially later in the pregnancy. Whenever a woman who has moderate or severe asthma does not control her asthma with regular medications that can prevent asthma attacks, she is at increased risk of having a major asthma attack. In pregnancy that is riskier than usual. One reason for this is because the extra burdens on the body in later pregnancy make it more difficult for women to cope with a physical crisis like a major asthma attack. This can harm the woman and her baby in several ways, partly because it reduces t
