Is Labored Breathing During Pregnancy Normal?

Many pregnant women find breathing can become harder as their bodies grow to make room for their babies. But sometimes, that labored breathing may need medical treatment.

One mom said changing the treatment for her asthma made all the difference.

"It's harder to move up and down stairs. Sometimes, getting out of bed, just because you have to pause, take a breath and then go on," Sharon Pomachagua said.

Pomachagua is 26 weeks pregnant. She said she was diagnosed with asthma at age 18, but it has gotten worse with each of her pregnancies.

"When we got the smoke from Canada, it was very bad. When I went outside, I used my N95 mask even if it was just to go to the car," she said.

Pomachagua has been under the care of OB/GYN Dr. Robert Atlas, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mercy and key leader within Mercy's Family Childbirth and Children's Center.

According to Dr. Atlas, for some pregnant women, their asthma may not bother them.

"For patients who have mild asthma, we don't think it interacts with pregnancy at all. What we worry about are patients with severe asthma, who are on multiple medications, who are struggling to breathe," Dr. Atlas said.

If you're pregnant and experiencing some labored breathing, don't panic.

"Patients who are having shortness of breath is a normal finding in pregnancy. There's this breathlessness that women have," Dr. Atlas said.

For Pomachagua, it was about balancing her asthma medication to make sure it was working for her.

"So many women do it backwards. They use their inhaled cortisone steroid with their long-acting beta agonist when they're in trouble, and use a rescue inhaler daily. It needs to be opposite," Dr. Atlas said.

That's what Pomachagua does with her medication now. Now that she is breathing easier, all that's left is to count down the weeks until she meets her baby girl.

View Dr. Robert Atlas' interview regarding labored breathing, asthma and pregnancy.