Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway system characterized by bronchoconstriction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness triggered by a host of stimuli. Asthma may complicate as many as 4% of pregnancies and is the most common respiratory disease in pregnancy.<sup>3 Cunningham G.C., Gant N.F., McDonald P.C. , et al. Medical and surgical complications in pregnancy Williams Obstetrics Stanford, CT: Appleton and Lange (1997). 

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Retrospective studies demonstrate that untreated and uncontrolled asthma can produce serious morbidity and even mortality for the fetus and gravida. Contemporary management of the pregnant asthmatic is directed at controlling symptoms and treating the underlying cause of asthma, namely, inflammation. In the 1990s, the National Asthma Education Program (NAEP) was convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the purpose of developing guidelines and standards for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma.<sup>13 National Asthma Education Program Report of the Working Group on Asthma in Pregnancy: Executive Summary   Management of Asthma in Pregnancy : National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (March, 1993).  . NIH Publication No. 93-3279A.

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This article discusses the pathophysiology of asthma and the effects of asthma on pregnancy and vice versa, and reviews the NAEP guidelines for the treatment of asthma in pregnancy.