Inhaled steroids do not harm fetal growth -study

[lovechild]

WASHINGTON - Pregnant women with asthma can use inhaled steroids without worrying that they will affect growth of their babies, according to a study released Monday.

Babies are more endangered by getting too little oxygen from an asthmatic mother than they are by the drugs, the researchers found.

The research team, led by Michael Schatz from Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Diego, found inhaled steroids given to 396 pregnant women did not have an effect on the growth of the fetus or impact the baby's birth weight.

The study shows that inhaled steroids are safer in pregnancy than steroid pills, Schatz said.

Oral steroids also are used to treat asthma, but have been shown to slow the growth of the fetus.

"Now, women don't have to make a choice between their health and the health of the baby," Schatz said in a telephone interview. "They don't have to think that making that choice is going to somehow harm the baby," he said.

The study was published in the March Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Inhaled steroids are given to some women with persistent asthma during pregnancy. Previous research indicated that 7 percent of women have some degree of asthma during their pregnancy, but not all are treated with steroids.

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, supports the use of steroids in pregnant women with serious asthma.

Uncontrolled asthma can reduce the flow of oxygen to the fetus, increasing the possibility of retardation, preterm birth, low birth weight or infant death.

"Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical problem to complicate pregnancy," Schatz said. "In fact, the risk of the uncontrolled asthma is greater than the risk of the inhaled steroids."