1. How Does Asthma Affect Pregnancy?

While unfortunately asthma is not a curable disease, for most asthmatics its can be well controlled meaning there will less symptoms or flare-ups and limits to your life. With correct medication, knowledge about the disease and skills, asthma shouldn’t stop you. There are many treatment options available when it comes to asthma. Asthma treatments vary from your basic asthma inhalers to steroids and other anti-inflammatory medicines and asthma nebulizer (Breathing Machine). (Anon., n.d.) The role that medical practitioners play with asthma is a very precise job. This role includes assessment, diagnosis, prescription of regular medications, provision of written action plans, and regular review as well as managing asthma flare-ups. Asthma-related visits to a general practitioner may occur for a variety of reasons, including: the acute or reactive management of asthma symptoms, a visit for maintenance activities, such as monitoring and prescription of regular medications and referral to other health professionals. (Anon.,

I started out by going through articles on google scholar and found the one that made me most interested. I have known people that have smoked during pregnancy and what happened to their child so I wanted to see if children could potentially have asthma from their mom smoking.

Smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy could lead to the placenta not developing fully. As the placenta carries oxygen and blood to the foetus this may impair growth and link to low birth weights. Babies born to smoking mothers are 30% more likely to have a premature baby which could lead to respiratory distress, problems feeding and they could have difficulty regulating their body temperature. Babies undergo withdrawal like systems and tend to be more jittery and harder to settle. Babies being brought up in a smoking household are at increased risk of cot death and may go on to develop asthma during childhood.

Stimulants are considered as a drug and are commonly used today. The question is will use of stimulants while pregnant affect the infant. A pregnant woman can be prescribed stimulants (Antidepressants) because of them being depressed and stressed out about everything that is occurring in their life while pregnant, but what many people do not see is it going to affect the infant long-term. Most mothers want what is best for their child and they want to make sure that their child is going to have a healthy life as much as possible. Is it safe to take the antidepressants while pregnant and will there be any risk factors? There is mainly a biological and environmental that reflect a child’s senses and development.

Asthma is a respiratory disease that many people deal with every single day. “According to World Health Organization, approximately 180,000 people die from asthma each year.” (Jardins and Burton 187) Most people never think of asthma as a life threatening disease, but it can be crucial. As the number of people with asthma increases, the more likely you are to come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with this disease. Asthma is a severe breathing problem that has many complications that is dealt with daily like shortness of breath, chronic cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath, my main focus is childhood asthma, allergic asthma, and medication to treat asthma.

Premature birth has been linked to a vast array of lungs problems, the earlier the birth the greater risk of health complications(Davis R and Mychaliska G, 2013). A majority of the health problems will affect the infant for the rest of their life (Davis R and Mychaliska G, 2013). Infants born between the canalicular and the saccular period (week 25) have lung development that is unsuitable for gas exchange (Davis R and Mychaliska G, 2013). Two major complications that arise with undeveloped lungs is bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and pulmonary arterial hypertension (Mahgoub L. et al. 2017).

Smoking while pregnant can cause a various of issues to the fetus and to the child while they are in their young ages. It can cause the child to be born 162-226 grams. This weight is lighter than a baby whose mother did not smoke. For example, while the baby is in the womb, it will slow the development of the baby’s organs, due to the toxins entering the baby’s bloodstream (Holmes ?). Another way it can harm the baby while he/she is still in the womb is by causing the baby to be stillborn (not cited yet). This sympathetic damage would have lasting impact on the mother psychologically. This could be especially painful when she has done everything right to protect her unborn

In general, if medication is required, the lowest dose possible should be used and combination drug therapies and first trimester exposures should be avoided (“Teratogens/Prenatal”, 2008).

The relationship between maternal smoking and fetal development shows that smoking raises the risk of early miscarriage and stillbirth. In the early stages of fetal development, cigarette smoke may cause genetic damage to the unborn baby. Smoking can change the lining of the uterus making it harder for the implantation of the fertilized egg. The dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes can cause a mother’s placenta to separate from the womb at a premature time. Smoking later in pregnancy appears to decrease the placenta’s ability to deliver nutrients to a developing baby. Some evidence even indicates that heavy smoking by

Asthma triggers and response to medications does not affect individuals in the same ways. Moreover it is not always simple to manage due to its affectability on people on age, sex and ethnic background (Cockett,2003). However, specialist nurse can achieve a successful outcome by ensuring that management plans are tailored to suit each patients/clients needs.

Smoking well pregnant can expose your child to harmful chemicals. Some of the chemicals in smoke won’t allow oxygen to the blood stream, such as carbon monoxide. Nicotine causes less oxygen and nutrients reach the fetus.

Smoking cigarettes has been known for several years to be harmful to the individuals who choose to smoke. Putting tar into your lungs, causing cancer, heart disease and stroke are just a few reasons many Americans choose not to smoke. However, seventeen percent of people in the United States are smokers. With that seventeen percent, ten percent of women smoke during pregnancy. Not smoking during pregnancy should be a no-brainer but women still do it. Smoking during pregnancy has been known to cause retardation, low birth weight, premature birth, and infant mortality. New studies are showing that smoking is now causing chromosomal

Cigarette smoking increases a wide range of issues, with prematurity (20-30%) and low birth weight (which doubles) being the most probable. The first trimester is considered a critical time for growth as the fetus is beginning to develop organs. If a woman smokes only in her trimester and then quits, she has put her fetus at risk of developing a birth defect. Also, the second and third trimesters are important as well due to the fact that neurological defects result if a woman is smoking

Air pollution can be undoubtedly harmful to pregnancy. Substances such as carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, emissions from solid biomass, and nitroarenes all contribute to air pollution. Studies done in North Carolina, California, and East India all conclude the same thing; air pollutants do affect the health of babies during pregnancy. The most severe affects from these toxins include cancer, short-and-long-term morbidity, and stillbirth. Still damaging, yet less traumatizing effects include low birth weight, small for gestational age, and preterm birth. PM2.5 is particulate matter in the air. One study shows it reduces birth weight by 3.1 g (Gray, 2013). Because most of air

Childhood asthma impacts scores of youngsters and their families. In fact, the bulk of kids develop respiratory illness before the age of