Asthma and allergy in pregnancy

Forty to 60 million Americans suffer from chronic allergic disorders that may involve the chest (asthma), nose (allergic rhinitis), or skin (atopic dermatitis, urticaria, or angioedema). Nearly 20% of women of childbearing age suffer from one or more of these allergic diseases, and up to 4% are affected by asthma during pregnancy. Combined with disorders that mimic allergies (i.e., nonallergic rhinitis, sinusitis, and hereditary angioneurotic edema) and those entities in which definable allergies are uncommon (chronic urticaria), these illnesses represent the most common group of chronic medical conditions antedating, associated with, or complicating pregnancy.