Asthma and cerebral palsy

[Mummychloe9]

I'm 15 weeks and been quite sick with my asthma this pregnancy. Especially round 9-12 weeks, using my blue inhaler several times per day I mentioned it to my midwife and she didn't seem concerned. Had a Nuchal scan and everything looked alright. But now I'm wondering if it might be that the baby is not getting enough oxygen due to the asthma and has cerebral palsy? Is there any way to tell? Also I've got red hair and been told that increases the chances of cerebral pals.

Bump?

You need to get a full asthma review from your doctor - your regular GP. If you’re experiencing a need to use your inhaler more that’s a sign your asthma is not fully controlled and that needs fixing.

However... it isn’t going to cause CP in your child. The vast majority of cases are caused by lack of oxygen during birth, with some cases caused by infection or injury and some by genetics.
You needing to use your inhaler more will not do it, so please relax about that.

I’ve never heard of a link with red hair (and I am a geneticist) - there are hints of a genetic component to some cases but these seem to be things like copy number variations.

If you’ve had scans showing baby is fine then the chances are they are fine - you do need to get an asthma review for your own health though.

Thanks @Bowlofbabelfish, I had a check with the nurse at the GP and they said my oxygen level was fine, but I have so much trouble breatheing I thought if I was low on oxygen from the asthma that might be hurting the baby?

Cerebral palsy is when the baby is totally starved of oxygen for a length of time to the point of brain damage.
This can happen when the baby is stuck and in distress during birth. Or a starved of oxygen for a length of time once the child is born.

Having your puffer every now and then (or even a lot) won't cause your child to have cerebral palsy.

I'm not sure what has made you think that this is possible but speak to your midwife or GP so they can explain this to you.

if your oxygen levels have been measured and are OK then there’s no way your baby is affected.

Foetal haemoglobin has a much higher affinity for oxygen than adult so that oxygen is transferred from your system to the baby’s.

It’s still VERY important that you get an asthma review with your GP - really at any time when your need for inhalers or asthma changes. Try to book one in ASAP.