International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

New maternal and newborn health research has revealed inhaled glucocorticoids used for the treatment of asthma during pregnancy do not lead to an increased risk of diseases among babies.

The study assessed 65,085 mother-child pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort and the findings were published in the online edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Marion Tegethoff, PhD, associate faculty member in clinical psychology and psychiatry at the University of Basel in Switzerland, explained if mothers used inhaled glucocorticoids during their pregnancy they did not lead to an increased risk of the majority of early childhood diseases.

However, it was found to be a risk factor for endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Associate faculty member in clinical psychology and epidemiology at the University of Basel Gunther Meinlschmidt, PhD, added: "While our results support the use of these widely used asthma treatments during pregnancy, their effect on endocrine and metabolic disturbances during childhood merits further study.

This comes after a team lead by Rodrigo Ruano of the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo in Brazil discovered fetal tracheal occlusion can improve infant survival rates among those suffering from congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Posted by David Smith