Taking aspirin to help prevent miscarriage

[honey8]

hello - I have just found out I am pregnant again after 3 miscarriages. Although I am happy I am also really apprehensive that this one will not work either. I was in the process of having tests done and now they have to stop. I spoke to my doctor about taking aspirin even though I have not had positive results back for sticky blood disease. He said it was fine to take it but I wondered if anyone else has done this and what advice they were given. I don't want to harm myself or my baby obviously.

[sue10]

Firstly many congratulations and i really hope this works out for you. At present there seems to be a split amongst consultants as to whether taking aspirin is safe or not so it is a diffiult one to answer. Some are saying that research is now showing that it inteferes with the implantation but nothing is 100% proven as yet. I have taken aspirin with some of my pregnancies but unfortunately it did not help but i know of others that it did work out for so i think it's an individual choice.Goodluck.
sueXXX.

[justbeme]

Hi - congratulations! I was seen at St Marys in Paddington after having 3 mc's. I was advised to take 1 baby aspirin a day when pregnant again. I did this but went on to mc a 4th time. The next time I got pregnant, I was advised to take 2 baby aspirins a day - and guess what? It worked! I am now the proud Mum to a lovely 10mth old. Personally, I would hit 2 a day again. Maybe it was luck, maybe not - who knows?? Good Luck.

[honey8]

thanks for your comments - justbeme - did anyone say anything about risks to you of taking aspirin?

[Lozza70]

Hi honey8 Congatulations! I had 3 MC's and was investigated at the Royal London. Scans and blood tests. They found nothing wrong but did advise me to start taking baby asprin (75mg daily) as soon as I discovered I was preg. I had my 20 week scan this morning and so far so good. The only thing is that it thins your blood so I have to stop taking it a certain number of weeks before my EDD. I would definately take doctors advice before starting it but I feel it has worked for me. What also helped me was having 2 weekly scans from 6 weeks up to 12 weeks as this really put my mind at rest and allowed me to be a little less stressed. Could you ask the hospital who are investigating the MC to do regular scans for you?

Good luck and fingers crossed for you

[justbeme]

Hi Honey8 - no! They never mentioned the risks!! Why what risks have been advised to you then?? Mind you, my "end result" is perfect - surely the risk of mc is higher without taking, so I know which I'd rather have. I also felt annoyed that had I taken 2 a day with my 4th mc (rather than the 1 they advised) - then maybe it wouldnt have ended in mc. But that is such a big "what if?" isnt it??

[llareggub]

Is this something that is prescribed or can you get it off the shelf? I have had 2 mc this year and am not TTC at present (having a break) but this is sounding very interesting indeed...

[ButterflyMcQueen]

i was advised this after fertiliy treatement and took it with 2 babies 0-20 weeks

[justbeme]

Its just 75mg aspirin that you buy at the chemists. (low dose) - it thins your blood, so I was advised to take it as soon as i found out I was pregnant and then stop at 32 weeks.

The recurrent MC clinic, couldnt find anything wrong with me, but suggested I try this. So again, me thinks for the sake of about £1.50 or something, I may not have had to go through 3mcs. The crazy thing is that the NHS wont investigate until you've suffered 3!!

However, if anyone has any links to any possible problems, I'd still be interested.

[justbeme]

Thanks Justjules - that was helpful - so I read it that unless you have bleeding problems, then low dose is probably ok.

[onthepier]

Hello, I had two missed miscarriages 7 years ago, + during my next pregnancy asked my doctor about taking asprin to prevent it happening again. He suggested half an asprin a day which I took, and finally had a healthy pregnancy resulting in a lovely little boy!

Whether the asprin made a difference or whether just coincidence I'll never know, but it's worth asking your doctor about different brands of asprin. Can't remember which one was prescribed for me as it was a while ago now, but good luck!

[cmotdibbler]

I had 3 mcs, and although the tests were negative, my gp recommended trying low dose aspiring as I have a few symptoms that might be related to something going on with clotting. I took 75mg from getting the bfp, and DS resulted. Maybe it was coincidence, but I'd have tried anything that might help and for which the possible side effects were so low.

[fondant4000]

I had 5mcs and was at the specialist clinic at St Mary's. All my blood tests showed negative. When I started to bleed at 4w with pg no6 I started taking 75mg aspirin per day (probably about the same time as cmotdibbler). I went on to have a healthy full term dd!

I did exactly the same thing with dd2 - aspirin from the moment of bfp. And another healthy baby. Like cmotdibbler says it might be coincidence, and it might not work, but def worth trying. It might even be psychological as you feel at least you are doing something.

I did feel incredibly guilty though, because I never told my consultant because I didn't want them to tell me to stop.

[fondant4000]

Oh and you can get it at any chemist - just ask for low dose aspirin.

[fondant4000]

Certainly is justjules. It's hard NOT to believe in aspirin after that - esp as no mcs second time round. In reality I think I just got lucky eventually - but at least taking the aspirin was something else I could try.

My age was probably a factor - started trying at 36. Had dd1 at 40 after 5mcs and dd2 at 43 with no mcs. I do think sometimes things happen when you are pg that the tests do not show up - eg clotting.

Anyway fingers crossed honey8

[fondant4000]

Hey justbeme - you're a St Mary's girl just like me . It's so great that it exists - just makes you want to hug the NHS!

I was amazed that I managed to have dd2 without having to go back there. I'm sure I would have lost my marbles without them.

[lastboxoftampons]

Sorry to barge in here, but can I ask a question. Were your losses mostly missed miscarriages at a fairly advanced state? I've only had one mc, which they said was probably chromosomal - but it was at 11 weeks, fetus measuring 7 weeks. I just feel like something went wrong - either with switching over to the placenta or clotting and I've often wondered whether aspirin might help. Any insight would be helpful! Thank you!

[fondant4000]

My 5 mcs were all early, about 5-6 weeks, probably even pre-hb. I also had a mmc at 11 weeks - measuring 6 weeks.I've assumed that mine were chromosomal - although the only one they managed to test came back normal. I think the the thing with aspirin is that it does no harm, so even there is no indication that it will help, it's worth trying.

FWIW the hospital I waa originally at tried progesterone injections with pg no. 4 - but it made no difference

I think the things that helped me were: counselling (both at original hospital and St Mary's), weekly scans (thanks to St Mary's, it's just automatic - no begging), and daily aspirin.

[lastboxoftampons]

Thanks very much for your reply. forgot to mention that we did have a heartbeat at 6w 3d

[honey8]

hello and thanks for all the messages - I feel really encouraged by your experiences. I know it is a lottery and I'm hoping this pregnancy works! My doctor just asked me if I had any blood disorders or stomach problems before saying taking the aspirin was fine. The EPU at Swindon didn't advise either way - just asked me to contact my GP. To be honest I was going to wait until all the tests results came back, but bingo, got pregnant again in first few weeks after taking 5 months last time - isn't that typical! AND we are going to France next week so no wine and soft cheeses - this pregnancy better work out!! Good luck to everyone else that is trying too.

[downbutnotout]

Hi - I'm in exactly the same position as you (3mcs and 5.5 weeks pg). None of my tests showed any cause for the mcs but the consultant advised low dose aspirin from the time I got a bfp, which I have been doing. I will keep my fingers crossed for both of us!

[honey8]

Bad news today- I've miscarried again. I just feel numb and feel like crying all the time. Also as this is number 4 i feel i ought to be getting used to it. Stopped feeling sick a few days before we went on holiday so I guessed something was wrong but I held out some hope. The scan today proved nothing was there again and now they are doing tests for molar or ectopic pregnancy as they can't see the pregnancy sac. I feel like I don't know where to turn next - our genetic tests came back normal and the aspirin didn't work so I don't know what else to do.............

[scotlass]

Oh no honeybe that's such sad news

I was really interested in your thread cos I've had 3 mc's now (last one 2wks ago) and was thinking of taking aspirin if I got pg again in the future.

I'm so gutted for you - I don't think you can ever get used to the pain of losing a much wanted baby so you make sure you cry when you need to and take time to work through this sad time.