Obstetric outcomes for women with asthma evaluated

(HealthDay)—Women with asthma have significantly higher odds for nearly all obstetric complications, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Pauline Mendola, Ph.D., from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Rockville, Md., and colleagues used data from electronic medical records to characterize complications of pregnancy, labor, and delivery for 223,512 singleton deliveries from 12 clinical centers across the United States (2002 through 2008).

The researchers found that women with asthma had significantly higher odds of preeclampsia, superimposed preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, and placenta previa (adjusted odds ratios [aORs], 1.14, 1.34, 1.11, 1.22, and 1.30, respectively). The odds of preterm birth overall (aOR, 1.17) and of medically indicated preterm delivery (aOR, 1.14) were significantly increased among asthmatic women. Although the odds of spontaneous labor (aOR, 0.87) and vaginal delivery (aOR, 0.84) were significantly lower among women with asthma, the risks for breech presentation (aOR, 1.13), hemorrhage (aOR, 1.09), pulmonary embolism (aOR, 1.71), and maternal intensive care unit admission (aOR, 1.34) were significantly increased.

"We observed a pattern of increased risk for nearly all outcomes studied in the general obstetric population, which likely included women with mild asthma and good asthma control," the authors write. "Our data from a large, contemporary, nationwide U.S. cohort suggest that we still have a long way to go to improve obstetric outcomes for women with asthma."