About Asthma Parents
Asthma
Facts
Asthma is the #1 chronic disease in children.
But for children under 5 years old? Only in 2025 did GINA guidelines update to now state that children under 5 years old CAN be diagnosed. No more "probability of asthma". This means that the "official" counts of asthma in children under 5 is severely under-reported.
Current practice relies SOLELY on caregiver history and recall. But even as someone that knew healthcare, I still had no idea what I needed to know and to relay to my son's team. Many go unofficially diagnosed because there are no tools to guide objective diagnosis and management. After 4 ER visits in 4 months, I learned that likely 2 of our ER visits could have been avoided had we had access to the right tools and info.
There's also a mindset of "they'll grow out it". And yes, 60% of children do grow out of it. But! Those first 5 years can still result in countless hospital and clinical visits, hundreds of nights caregivers are worrying and losing sleep - the impact is tremendous and many of the costs are entirely preventable with improved education, support, and management.
About Me
My name is Rachel Sprague
As a product and commercialization leader in healthcare I knew the terminology, I knew the shortcomings of our system - I thought I knew how to advocate. But, as a first-time-mom, I was not prepared when my son had his first "asthma" attack. I was 100% in the dark - in so many aspects.
It was only through a relentless pursuit of information, and grit that the status quo is not "good enough", that I learned how to manage my son's asthma. My core philosophy is status shouldn't be a barrier to care and I'm seeking to change how we support parents of children with asthma.
