Lisa Randone is pregnant with her second child, and she suffers from asthma.
Triggers that can cause an asthma event for her can be as simple as standing near someone who is smoking, or when the weather gets cold.
During her first pregnancy, Ms Randone said she was worried about which medications to take to ease the symptoms.
"It was always a compromise between 'is it going to hurt the baby?' and 'is it going to be useful for my health?'," she said.
Ms Randone is not alone.
About 13 per cent of pregnant Australians have asthma, and up to 40 per cent of those can expect to see their symptoms get worse during pregnancy.
One in two can experience an asthma attack severe enough to seek medical help.
But a new toolkit and wellness campaign launched in Canberra will offer resources and information to address asthma during pregnancy.
The Breathe Well for Your Baby program was developed by researchers at the Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle.
Pregnancy can worsen asthma symptoms, asthma can affect pregnancy outcome
Lead researcher associate professor Vanessa Murphy said there were two main issues people with asthma faced during their pregnancy.
The first was seeing symptoms getting worse.
The second was that asthma could affect the outcome of pregnancy.
"Research shows that women with asthma are at increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, such as the baby being born too early or too small," she said.
"When asthma is actively managed in pregnancy those risks come down."
The online toolkit gives expecting families resources and guidance to address asthma symptoms.
Ms Murphy said the toolkit outlines how it is important during pregnancy to undertake regular reviews of one's condition, use correct and safe medications, involve healthcare providers in the process, and address triggers like hayfever, anxiety, and depression.
There are also answers to common questions, as well as a list of enquiries to ask GPs if a pregnant person is concerned about asthma.
More resources for antenatal clinicians
Ms Randone said it had eased her concerns knowing she had constant access to an online resource, especially if it took a while to get a doctor's appointment.
The toolkit also provides resources for health professionals, including medication use, maternity care, and some information about COVID-19 and air quality.
Ms Murphy said a driving force behind creating the toolkit was to provide more resources to antenatal clinicians, as many do not have access to good resources about asthma.
She said there was a particular focus on midwives who were "at the forefront of pregnancy care".
"[Midwives] have a big knowledge gap," she said.
"They lack confidence and knowledge around asthma in pregnancy, but they want to be able to support women in that area."
Ms Randone said she noticed some doctors giving her different advice during her pregnancies, and said a personalised action plan would be much more preferable.
"If mums are not feeling good, then baby's not feeling good," she said.
