MICHAEL SCHATZ, MD: So in the case of budesonide, this came from the Swedish medical birth registry, where all of the births in Sweden are monitored and registered. And the group of patients -- which numbered over 2500 who took budesonide -- were compared to the hundreds of thousands of women who didn't take budesonide. And they were able to show in that very large number of patients that there were no increased risks in the infants of the mothers taking budesonide.
ANNOUNCER: Doctors say other inhaled corticosteroids, including beclomethasone, triamcinolone, and fluticasone, may prove just as safe, but there are too little data right now to be sure.
There are two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications that are category B drugs. But they are generally not considered as effective as inhaled steroids in treating women with asthma.
Safety categorization is just one factor in selecting a therapy. A panel of asthma experts recommended that women should stay on some category C drugs when they become pregnant, if the drug proved effective before the pregnancy began.
Doctors say anyone with persistent asthma should be taking medication. And that includes women, even if they're pregnant. But with a wide range of medication to choose from, doctors say women who are treating their disease should feel confident their unborn child is receiving the best possible care.
EMILY DIMANGO, MD: The good news is that even though poorly controlled asthma can be dangerous to the pregnant mother and to her baby, asthma is relatively easy to control and the drugs that are available to treat asthma have now been shown to be safe for mother and for baby.
