While physicians ideally recommend that all medications be avoided during pregnancy, this is often not possible – especially with an asthma condition. Because it is very important to maintain a healthy oxygen supply to the fetus, many women use medication to control their asthma symptoms. However, physicians recommend some asthma medications more than others for use during a pregnancy. There are two factors that most physicians consider when recommending an asthma medication:

• How long the medication has been available. The longer a medication has been used, the more data is available on its safety. Medications that have been around for years without showing pregnancy complications are generally considered safe by most physicians.
  
  
• How the medication is delivered. Inhaled medications are preferred, because less medication reaches the fetus, reducing the potential for a harmful reaction. Oral or intravenous treatments are usually more potent because the drugs have to travel further through the body to reach the problem area.

Specialists will work with a woman’s obstetrician to prescribe medications that are safe to use during pregnancy. They can also monitor the patient throughout the pregnancy to ensure that the treatments are effective and not causing undesired side effects.

Breastfeeding through the first twelve months after birth is considered by most physicians to be beneficial to a child. While any sort of medication taken during this period should be discussed with a physician first, generally most asthma medications will not adversely affect a nursing newborn or the mother’s milk production. Inhaled medications are considered the safest types of treatment, as they allow for very little medicine to pass into the breast milk.

Theophylline is occasionally associated with causing jitteriness, feeding difficulties or vomiting in nursing babies when taken by their mothers. However, this reaction is rare and the drug is passed on to the nursing child in only trace amounts. Theophylline is rarely prescribed in the United States.