The fact that you have asthma does not necessarily mean that your child will develop asthma too. Your asthma diagnosis does, however, place your son or daughter at higher statistical risk of inheriting asthma as compared to a child born to parents with no personal history of asthma. Although there are no specific actions that you can take while pregnant to guarantee that your baby will never develop asthma, many specialists will recommend measures that may possibly delay the onset of allergy and asthma.
The most important steps for you to take while pregnant involve taking excellent care of yourself and making sure that your asthma is well controlled, and hopefully, completely asymptomatic. Studies have shown a link between a mother’s lung function and healthier babies at birth.
Better maternal lung function leads to improved fetal out-comes, with fewer premature births and fewer complications for the infant. If you are a smoker, smoking cessation is crucial. Pregnancy is an ideal time to quit, for the health of the developing baby, for your health, and for your child’s future well-being. Smoking can precipitate an exacerbation of asthma in the mother, and smokers’ babies tend to be small, with low birth weights. Children born of mothers who smoke during their pregnancy have an increased incidence of wheezing in infancy. Infants are three times more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) if their mother smoked during or after pregnancy.
There is strong evidence that the children of women who smoked during pregnancy face increased risk for poor lung health as they grow up.
Children raised in smokers’ homes experience more childhood respiratory illnesses and are at increased risk for the development of asthma. As adults, they even carry an increased risk of certain types of lung cancer—as do the parents who are the active smokers. A child raised in a home with smoking parents is much more likely to become a smoker, as compared to children raised in homes where adults do not smoke.
If you do not smoke, you should avoid exposure to secondhand smoke. Drinking alcoholic beverages in pregnancy is not advised, especially since alcohol contains “empty” (non-nutritive) calories and has adverse effects on the developing fetus. When you plan your meals, limit your intake of the more highly allergenic foods (such as tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, eggs, and dairy products) as their absence in the maternal diet seems to delay the onset of allergy symptoms in a young child.
Consider breastfeeding your baby for at least the first 3, and preferably 6, months of his or her life. Breast milk has been shown to support and stimulate the development of your child’s immune system. Finally, arrange for prenatal care beginning as early as possible in your pregnancy as it will help provide your newborn child with the best possible health at birth.