Description

Asthma is a common condition during pregnancy. It affects about 9 out of 100 pregnant women, and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. We know that one third (1/3) of all women with asthma during pregnancy experience worsening symptoms throughout pregnancy while one third (1/3) improve. However, the reason for this change is not known.

B-WELL-MOM (Breathe-Wellbeing, Environment, Lifestyle and Lung function) is a multicenter prospective cohort study aims increase the understanding of factors that predict poor asthma control during pregnancy as well as add to our knowledge of the basic immunology of pregnancy.

This study recruits a total of 500 women in their first trimester of pregnancy (less than 14 weeks gestation) and follows them through 4 months post-partum. Recruitment will target 200 women with good asthma control and 200 women with poorly controlled asthma in the year prior to pregnancy in addition to 100 non-asthmatic women over 2.5 years.

The B-WELL-Mom Study is being conducted by the Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH); in collaboration with two Clinical Centers, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Northwestern University; a Data Coordinating Center (DCC), the Emmes Corporation; the NICHD Repository and a Laboratory.

For Study Moms

If you would like to update your contact information or ask a question please CLICK HERE

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for the B-WELL-Mom Study, a woman must satisfy ALL of the following inclusion criteria:

• Age ≥18 Years
• Ideally, < 14 weeks 0 days gestation at time of baseline visit (but exceptions can be made for baseline visits <15 weeks 0 days)
• English or Spanish speaker
• Singleton pregnancy
• No diagnosis of HIV, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, or Mixed Connective Tissue Disease

In addition, women must be willing to provide biological samples at each study visit, as well as plan to keep the baby and to deliver at the study site hospital. Final study group assignment (well-controlled asthma, poorly controlled asthma) will be determined at the baseline visit after completion of the B-WELL-Mom Enrollment Form.

Study Design

Below is a brief diagram of what goes on during the study: Typically, study visits in the clinic happen three times during pregnancy and once when the baby is 4 months old. In addition, we ask women to fill out a short diary and make some lung function measurements at home – we give you everything you need to make that easy, including a tablet computer to mark your study progress!

	<14 weeks	20-22 weeks	30-32 weeks	Delivery	4 months postpartum
Screening	X
Medical Records				X
Interview Clinical Measures 24-Hr Recall	X	X	X		X
Biological Samples	X	X	X	X	X
Infant Measures				X	X