In the News: Aspirin and Miscarriages

[annegarrett]

http://www.kirotv.com/health/2406736/detail.html

Dr. Ridgeway (who is quoted here) is a volunteer for the Preeclampsia Foundation.


Anne Garrett
Executive Director
Preeclampsia Foundation

[steg]

So what about having to take baby asprin during pregnancy if you have a history of Preeclampsia, is that still recommended?

Stacy

[sandy]

That's my question too! About the baby asprin...the Peri I went to see last month suggested I start taking it even before TTC, so I've been taking it for the past month...and we're just about ready to TTC.

~Sandy/DD born via emergency C at 35 wks/1 day June '03 due to Severe PE/class III HELLP/chronic HBP/asthma

[taras mom]

This is the kind of sloppy reporting that really chaps my hide. When they discuss aspirin only as a painkiller, they're telling only half the story, and that can be worse than not telling it at all.

Carol (38)
DH Bill (40)
Tara Mairichi
12/7-12/9, 2002
The Mightiest Little Angel

[annegarrett]

I will ask Laura to float this link by our Experts on Call along with your questions and see what they say. Seems like sometimes we can't win. My thinking though is this is regular aspirin--not BA--but don't actually know. Will try to find out!

Anne Garrett
Executive Director
Preeclampsia Foundation

[akemt]

The doctor quoted did say miscarriages in early pregnancy. I would infer from that that it doesn't mean later miscarriages or stillbirths, but again...how would we know?

Catherine (22), Moderator (pregnant again)
DH Britton (27)
Emma Margaret (03/02/03) 37 weeks from PIH & oligo
Baby #2 due August 11, 2004

[laura]

I sent the question off as Anne asked, and here was the reply from one of the docs who puts it all in perspective very, very well:

The procedures employed by those who recommend low dose aspirin is to start the drug after week 12-14, and thus any risk of miscarriage from the drug is extremely minimal, if at all. One should be aware, however, that the many physicians do not prescribe aspirin now because its ability to prevent preeclampsia is extremely low and if present in a yet to be defined “high risk” group. Recall, it has taken a metaanlysis of over 30,000 patients to show a small statistical effect on outcomes. Thus, anyone contemplating its daily use must weigh the very small benefits to any small side effects the drug has.

One should also be aware of the pitfalls of the about to be released BMJ study. I am yet to see it, but it is claimed to be surveys of women about their nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug history before or in the early phase of a previous pregnancy, in a sense looking for retrospective information (looking back instead of prospectively, that is forward), Such studies can have many of what we call “confounding variables.” For example women who take such drugs may be “less healthy” than those who do not, and harbor illnesses that lead to miscarriage. For instance, if some of these women were taking their drugs for joint pains that later turned out to be lupus erythematosus, the latter and not the aspirin causing the miscarriage. This is not to say I would not heed the recommendations of such articles (intuitively, if possible one does not prescribe any drug in the first three months of pregnancy primarily to avoid any teratogenic potential they may have). I added this last paragraph to show how careful one must be when reading medicine by press stories, (and also because I arose early this morning and had some extra time at the computer.)


We've also posted this question and answer thread in the "Ask the Experts" section, too, under Aspirin and Miscarriage

Laura
Moderator/AK Coordinator

Mom to Alicia (severe PE) 5/98 and Camille (htn, oligo) 4/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/camilleandallie/