Aspirin During Pregnancy: Is It Safe or Not?

What Is Baby Aspirin?

As the name indicates, the baby aspirins are low-dose aspirins. A single pill of baby aspirin contains 81 milligrams of Aspirin. In an adult aspirin, it is 325 mg. Thus, the aspirin content in a baby aspirin will be only around 1/4th that of adult aspirin.

Despite the fact that frequent intake of adult aspirin brings about several adverse side effects, daily intake of baby aspirin is used in the treatment of several health issues. It is a blood thinner and helps to prevent blood clots also.

Baby aspirin therapy effectively brings down the risk of heart attack and stroke. It can be effectively used to treat several complications during the pregnancy period.

Is It Safe To Take Aspirin For Pregnant Women?

The answer is “no” in the majority of cases. Taking standard Aspirin without the acknowledgment of your doctor can bring about unwanted consequences. However, it is not that perilous to take an adult Aspirin during pregnancy occasionally.

But taking an adult aspirin whenever pain bothers you (like when you are not pregnant) is not at all a good idea during the pregnancy period. It will definitely bring about severe maternal or fetal complications, or both also.

When Should You Take Aspirin During Pregnancy?

If you have previously taken Aspirin for a particular health condition, you may have to go on with it during pregnancy as well. Your doctor will decide whether to continue or go for an alternative depending on the severity of the health issue for which you are taking Aspirin. However, sometimes doctors use baby aspirin to reduce the risk of certain pregnancy complications like preeclampsia and preterm delivery.

During Which Month Of Pregnancy You Should Start Taking Aspirin?

Your doctor will prescribe baby aspirin,

• If you have a history of early-onset preeclampsia, baby aspirin or low-dose Aspirin is used towards the late first trimester (i.e., around the 12th week of pregnancy) to prevent or delay the early onset of preeclampsia.
• If you have a history of repeated preterm delivery and IUGR, baby aspirin is used as a preventive measure to avoid it. Women with the risk of preterm delivery, when started baby aspirin therapy before 20 weeks of gestation are found able to push the delivery past 34th

However, the baby aspirin therapy generally stops two weeks before the due date, thereby allowing the blood clotting to fall back to normal. Or else, the mother has a higher chance of subjecting to severe hemorrhage at that time.

Can Aspirin Cause A Miscarriage During Early Pregnancy?

Several studies confirm that the intake of this medication at the beginning of the pregnancy or just about the time of conception has the potential to bring about a miscarriage. Actually, the miscarriage risk for women taking this could be seven times higher than for those who stay away from this medicine. There is another side to this. It is found that baby aspirin if taken before conception, enhances the odds of conception.

What Are The Effects Of Aspirin For Pregnant Women in Late Pregnancy?

Taking adult Aspirin during pregnancy towards the end of the third trimester of pregnancy can,

• Increase the risk of placental abruption to some extent.
• Lead to premature closure of the Ductus Arteriosus, a blood vessel that supplies nutrients and oxygen to the baby. This blood vessel ought to close immediately after delivery. The premature closure of this vessel (when the baby is still in the womb) necessitates the need for preterm delivery
• Slow down the labor and, thereby, increases the risk of cardiac and pulmonary issues in the newborn baby
• Bring about severe hemorrhage and other bleeding issues for mother and child during the delivery time
• Increase the risk of bleeding in the brain of a preemie also<

When Is Advisable Aspirin During Pregnancy?

• If you have a history of repeated miscarriage
• If you have a history of preeclampsia and have increased odds of developing one in the current pregnancy.
• If you have a disorder that causes the blood clot
• If you have pregnancy-induced hypertension

When Is Aspirin Not Advisable During Pregnancy?

• If you are allergic to Aspirin
• When you are asthmatic. Aspirin sometimes aggravates the asthmatic symptoms.
• If you have a bleeding disorder.
• Early pregnancy, increases the chances of miscarriage.

What Are The Side Effects Of It During Pregnancy?

• Taking standard or adult aspirin frequently during early pregnancy is linked with several birth defects.
• Taking a standard dose after 30 weeks of pregnancy can give rise to oligohydramnios, a condition where there is too little amniotic fluid. Oligohydramnios has an adverse impact on the unborn baby.
• It causes underdeveloped lungs
• It causes an underdeveloped urinary bladder
• Reduces blood flow from mother due to the compressed umbilical cord
• Deformation of skull and leg bones also

Will My Baby Need Extra Monitoring During Pregnancy If I take Aspirin?

• If you are already taking Aspirin during pregnancy, the doctor will assess your health and fetal development
• Taking baby aspirin during pregnancy is not at all harmful, and there is no need for extra monitoring. However, if the doctor prescribed baby aspirin for reducing the chances of developing preeclampsia and also recurrent miscarriage, or to treat the cardiac problems of the mother, close monitoring is significant for the safe progression of pregnancy.>

Is There Any Safe Substitute For Aspirin During Pregnancy?

When you have to take something to ease the pain during pregnancy, Acetaminophen (Tylenol or paracetamol) is a safer option for pregnant women.

Some Interesting Facts About Aspirin

• It is the first of the three most used drugs in the world
• More than 120 billion these Tablets are used per year
• Acetylsalicylic acid, the active component of Aspirin, was initially isolated from the bark of a willow tree.
• One who drinks more than three alcoholic beverages per day should not take Aspirin

Pregnancy is a very delicate phase of your life. Therefore, double-check and think before incorporating any medicines, even if in your pre-pregnancy days, you had it whenever you feel. There are several natural remedies for the majority of pain and discomfort you feel during pregnancy.