Maternal asthma medication associated with premature births, small birth weight in infants

Prescriptions for asthma were associated with birth before 32 weeks gestation (aOR 1.33, 95%CI 1.10-1.61) and birthweights below the 10th percentile (aOR 1.10, 95%CI 1.03-1.18). Moreover, the discontinuation of asthma medicine during pregnancy was associated with both birth before 32 weeks (aOR 1.53, 95%CI 1.11-2.10) and birth before 37 weeks gestation (aOR 1.22, 95%CI 1.06-1.41). Stillbirth was also more prevalent among women prescribed asthma medicines than the unexposed population (aOR 1.56, 95%CI 1.21-2.00), particularly if the medicines had been discontinued during pregnancy (aOR 1.91, 95%CI 1.29-2.82). The authors conclude that increased monitoring, targeted support and active asthma management are needed before, during and after pregnancy.

The authors add: "This analysis of prescription records for over 100,000 pregnancies found that women who stopped their asthma medicines during pregnancy were at increased risk of preterm birth and not breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks, whereas women who continued with their inhaled corticosteroids were at lower risk. Prescriptions records could be used to identify the women who need extra help and support.