Breathing Exercises in Asthma During Pregnancy

Asthma is defined as chronic inflammatory condition of airways, characterized by periodic episodes of wheezing, cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath and which are often worse at night. This causes hyper-responsiveness of airways and flow of air obstruction leading to breathing difficulty. Asthma in pregnancy is a common risk factor for fetal and maternal complications. Asthma also effects outcomes of pregnancy and pregnancy affects asthma severity which has being currently being examined. Approximately 50% of asthmatic pregnant females 25 percent experience a worsening of asthma control at some stage during pregnancy, and most of them take corticosteroids for the management of acute and chronic exacerbation. Pathogenesis of asthma during pregnancy is entirely related to the physiological and pathological changes .Uterine enlargement causes hormonal changes during pregnancy directly or indirectly Asthmatic women have an increased ratio of associated co-morbidities which have direct effect on it where by increasing risk of perinatal outcomes. Pregnancy associated with asthma affects women in many ways. Hormonal imbalances occurring during pregnancy affects lungs as well as sinuses. Increased estrogen causes nasal congestion during the 3rd trimester. A rise in progesterone may cause a feeling of shortness of breath. Its important to identify or diagnose asthma being a major cause of shortness of breath during pregnancy. Breathing exercises includes nasal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, deep pursed lip breathing. They have beneficial effects, such as betterment in health related (QOL)quality of life ,decreasing anxiety ,depression, improving asthma symptoms, the treatment using relief medication, occurrence of exacerbations, and hyperresponsiveness of airways. Global Initiative for Asthma(GINA GUIDELINES 2019)illustrated that non pharmacological management such as patient's education, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques can be used as an adjunct to asthma pharmacotherapy. Breathing exercises includes nasal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, deep pursed lip breathing. They have beneficial effects, such as betterment in health related (QOL)quality of life, decreasing anxiety ,depression, improving asthma symptoms, the treatment using relief medication, occurrence of exacerbations, and hyperresponsiveness of airways in patients with asthma. Literature reviewed from different search engines shows that there are limited studies available regarding non pharmacological management of asthma during pregnancy so Current study is planned to assess if non pharmacological management such as breathing exercise techniques will help improve asthma symptoms exacerbation as well as quality of life following regular plan of exercises and relaxation techniques collectively.