Grant: Operating Grant

Asthma is an increasingly common serious medical condition during pregnancy. According to current practice, it is safer for pregnant women with asthma to be treated with asthma medications than it is for them to have asthma symptoms and exacerbations, which is uncontrolled asthma. However, we do not know with certainty whether or not asthma medications used during pregnancy to prevent asthma manifestations, namely inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonists (LABA), can have negative effects on the mother, such as hypertension and diabetes during pregnancy. We will undertake a large study within the province of Quebec to address these issues. Our study will determine: i) the risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy among asthmatic women using ICS compared to those not using them; ii) the risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy and hypertension during pregnancy among asthmatic women using LABA in addition to ICS compared to those using ICS but no LABA. Knowing whether or not specific medications used to treat asthma increase the risk of pregnancy related diseases is absolutely necessary to help women and clinicians to accurately estimate the benefit/risk ratio of treatment alternatives, choose the best treatment for each woman, and do their best to avoid adverse maternal outcomes.