(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New guidelines for managing asthma during pregnancy reflect medications that have recently emerged and update treatment recommendations. The guidelines, established by the National Asthma Educational Prevention Program, center around a "stepwise" approach, where medication is stepped up in intensity if needed and stepped down when possible. The recommendations include:

• Albuterol should be used as a quick-relief medication to treat asthma symptoms.

• Women who have symptoms at least two days a week or two nights a month have persistent asthma and need daily medication for long-term care of their asthma.

• For patients whose persistent asthma is not well controlled on low doses of inhaled corticosteroids alone, the dosage should be increased or another medication should be added.

• Oral corticosteroids may be required for treating severe asthma.

Asthma worsens in approximately 30 percent of women who have mild asthma at the beginning of their pregnancy. When it is poorly controlled, it can lead to problems for both women and their fetuses. When a pregnant woman has trouble breathing, her fetus also has trouble getting necessary oxygen. Asthma is one of the most common potentially serious conditions to complicate pregnancy. It is associated with an increased risk of infant death, preeclampsia, premature birth, and low birth weight. Patients with severe asthma are at an increased risk for these problems.

Experts say obstetricians need to monitor asthma severity at least monthly in patients' prenatal visits. They say, "There are many ways we can help pregnant women control their asthma, and it is imperative that providers and their patients work together to do so."

Researchers add, "As important as medications are for controlling asthma, a pregnant woman can reduce how much medication is needed by identifying and avoiding the factors that make her asthma worse, such as tobacco smoke or allergens like dust mites."