A new study suggests baby aspirin can prevent preterm birth, but this isn’t the first study to show benefits from taking low-dose (baby) aspirin while pregnant. It has been known for some time to lower the risk of Preeclampsia, a leading cause of the high maternal mortality rate in the U.S.
I was skeptical at first, but there are so many studies now and professionals saying yes, sometimes with strong limitations on who should be taking it and sometimes not as many. Reviewing the research shows that the field of high risk conditions where organizations are recommending low-dose aspirin keeps expanding as more studies are completed. Some experts are even saying they should add it to the prenatal vitamins. Yet, every aspirin bottle still says not to take when pregnant. These things are slow to catch up, yet sometimes we move too fast.
The latest recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force says a doctor should recommend low-dose aspirin after 12 weeks if the pregnant woman has:
History of preeclampsia, especially when accompanied by an adverse outcome
Multifetal gestation
Chronic hypertension
Type 1 or 2 diabetes
Renal disease
Autoimmune disease (systemic lupus erythematous, antiphospholipid syndrome)
But also if the pregnant woman has a combination of several of these:
Nulliparity (Never making it to the giving birth stage)
Obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2)
Family history of preeclampsia (mother or sister)
Sociodemographic characteristics (African American race, low socioeconomic status)
Age ≥35 years
Personal history factors (e.g., low birthweight or small for gestational age, previous adverse pregnancy outcome, >10-year pregnancy interval)
This is significantly more liberal than early recommendations which focused only on a history of preeclampsia.
Avoiding something is always less scary than adding something. It’s a tough choice you need to ask your doctor about.
This is just one of the many ways doctors and researchers are starting to work on the overwhelming problem of maternal mortality in the US. The US has higher rates of maternal mortality than any other developed country and it is the only country where this is rising. Who doesn’t know a few people who have had close calls? Most of it stems from a focus on infant outcomes while ignoring mothers. This I find to be one of the most disturbing of all trends. Mothers have people that count on them, families, other kids, a whole life…any civilized society should protect the mother first.
Read more about the horrible situation in the US in this series on lost mothers by NPR. https://www.npr.org/series/543928389/lost-mothers From the story of one mother who died in New Jersey: “for a stretch of almost eight hours, her blood pressure wasn’t monitored at all, the New Jersey Department of Health later found. Over that same period, her baby’s vital signs were being constantly watched.”