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Low-dose Aspirin Therapy
An Option for Some High-risk Pregnancies?
By Teri Brown
Some drugs are so simple we don't even know how useful they are until years afterwards. Take the aspirin, for example. Ages after we discovered its use as a painkiller, we discovered that its usefulness extended to preventing heart attacks. Now doctors are using it to treat some pregnant patients who are experiencing pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth retardation.
The magic in this little white pill is its blood-thinning qualities.
Carmen Staicer's third pregnancy was problematic and it was discovered that her uterus was malformed, possibly due to poor blood flow. Her baby girl suffered from intrauterine growth retardation and was born at 36 weeks at 5 pounds. When she became pregnant again, her doctors took preventive measures.
"In my fourth pregnancy, my doctor suggested that I take a baby aspirin daily to keep the blood flow moving to my placenta," Staicer says. "I had more ultrasounds than typical, but there were no problems in this pregnancy. In fact, I went two weeks over and was induced, and he was 7 pounds, 8 ounces."
Perhaps, though, her baby would have been fine without it. After changing to a midwife for her fifth baby, Staicer opted to not do aspirin therapy and her pregnancy progressed without problems.
Dr. Madhuri Bewtra, an OB/GYN in private practice in Bergen, N.J., says the studies are mixed. "There are several studies that have been done on treatment with aspirin for suspected growth restriction in utero, and there is no definitive answer," Dr. Bewtra says. "Some have shown a potential benefit in reducing small for gestational age infants, but some have shown no difference between aspirin and placebo. Currently, there is no recommendation in giving aspirin to patients with suspected intrauterine growth restriction."
According to Dr. Bewtra, the same thing goes for those at risk for pre-eclampsia – the studies are mixed. However, at this current time, more obstetricians are recommending patients take aspirin if they are at higher risk for pre-eclampsia, such as a prior history, chronic hypertension, possibly multiple gestation and pre-gestational diabetes. A low-dose aspirin, which is a baby aspirin, would be recommended.
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