Causes of Childhood Asthma: Sorry I... - Asthma Community ...

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Causes of Childhood Asthma

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Sorry I hope you dont mind. I am new to the site as my son has been diagnosed with Asthma today.

I have some questions about why. I suppose this is natural in parents to want to understand and I am trying not to blame myself but its difficult.

I quit smoking the day I discovered I was pregnant and never smoked again. I was 5 weeks when I found out as it wasnt planned. I breastfed for 11 months which I thought would help build up anti bodies against this sort of thing.

However when I was pregnant I had a cronic hip condition which left me in a wheelchair. I had to take increasingly stonger painkillers and was eventually put on morphine. I was given an emergancy C section at 38 weeks as I felt bad giving all the drugs to my unborn baby. He had an ok birth weight for his gestation (6lb 14oz) but gained weight slowly (at 2 he is still in 9-12 month trousers) I was never concerned at the time but now feel this may be a factor in his asthma.

Also as a baby he dribbled an awful lot - far more than other babies the same age. I mentioned it to my HV and she said it wasnt a problem so I left it but again is this a factor I should have picked up on?

I just think I'd feel better with some answers. I was pretty numb when the gp told me so I didnt really ask anything but we're going back in 2 weeks so I'll try and ask the questions then.

Thank you for listening.

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1 Reply

Hi Madz,

Firstly - rest assured, it sounds as though you have done everything that you possibly could, and don't feel guilty or a failure for what's happened!

You stopped smoking as soon as you found out you were pregnant, so this is not likely to have been a factor. You breastfed which can provide some protection against eczema and asthma, but it isn't a failsafe (perhaps myself being a case in point!). Morphine is not likely to have caused or had any impact on your son's lung development; it can cause babies to breathe more slowly when they are born, but as soon as they get rid of the drug then there's no long term effects. The dribbling I don't think will have had any impact at all. It just sounds like he was a dribbly baby!

You've done all you can to give your son the best possible start in life, so don't blame yourself at all for his diagnosis. Another positive thing is that about half of all young children who are wheezy will grow out of this by late childhood, so the outlook is very good. Talk to your GP and work with them to get your lad's asthma under control, and keep asking questions on here, they're a knowledgable lot!

All the best to you and your little one,

CathBear

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