aspirin in pregnancy - what is it used for and dangerous to self-diagnose?

[yellowflowers]

subject heading says it all really. Why are women diagnosed baby aspirin in early pregnancy and is it dangerous to diagnose yourself and do they take it to aid conception?

Aspirin is sometimes prescribed for woman who have miscarried, sometimes repeatedly, due to certain clotting disorders.
As Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory (belongs to the same group of meds like Nurofen, Votarol) it is NOT safe to take in pregnancy unless prescribed after investigations and only for specific reasons.
It is NOT to aid conception.

Women, sorry!

thanks mummyfor3 - despite extensive internet searching I was finding it hard to get info

It aslo acts as a mild anticoagulant, some women miscarry a number of times becuase the womb lining is just to thick for the egg to properly implant thus the asprin makes the blood slightly thinner.

Disclaimer - I am not a medical professional but this is what i was told in pregnancy as i was misscarrying reguarly and was advised this by my hemotologist.

I take asprin while I'm trying to concieve beacause my haemotologist pescribed it because I have a bl;ood clotting disorder during pregnancy which means I get dvts.

When I am pregnant I have to inject my self with fragmin every day instead

They also perscribe it for high blood pressure prevention

I took aspirin during my 2nd pregnancy because I suffer from a blood clotting disorder. I also need fragmin injections post natally but they hurt too much so I had to be given warfarin instead! What a wuss. It certainly didn't aid conception as I wasn't to take it until I became pregnant.

I took it from weeks 14-36 as my dd had IUGR in my first pregnancy. This was on consultant advice (a private consultant suggested it at an early private scan but stressed I should discuss it with my NHS consultant first - I had to ask my consultant about it but she agreed to it).

could it really be dangerous to take one baby aspirin a day? I would have thought not, but then I am not a qualified physician (unless an obsessive googling habit counts as coursewrok )

Sifuentes, as far as I am aware (am humble GP and no specialist) you should not take Aspirin when pregnent or TTC unless you have one of those blood clotting disorders other posters have referred to.
Aspirin does loads of other things, some of which interfere with development of blood vessels and cell division, which is obviously not a good thing if you are a developing embryo...
On a more personal level, I had 3 early miscarriages, no underlying clotting disorder, and my consultant eventually said something along the lines of I could try Aspirin, basically just to try and see (and, I am sure, so shut me up ), and I miscarried that pregnancy as well. Next pg, was DS1 without any Aspirin at all.
With DS2 I had bleeding and placental problem, which would have potentially been a lot worse if I had taken Aspirin.
And just to be pendantic, sorry susiey, Aspirin is sometimes used in people who have high blood pressure, not to prevent high blood pressure.

Lots of IVF programmes include baby aspirin (which is usually half standard dose). I conceived on the only cycle in which I took it. It is far more commonly used in the USA than the UK.

I was recommended baby aspirin by consultant when I flew longhaul in second trimester.

think in early pregnancy its as mummyfor3 something to stop repeated m/c due to clotting issues as opposed to issues with conception.

I was prescribed low-dose ("baby") aspirin- 75mg- daily during my last pregnancy due to a history of severe pre-eclampsia. I started basically as soon as I had a positive test, and I know of some pre-eclampsia sufferers who have been advised to start it even while TTC. But as others have said this is due to the idea of an underlying clotting disorder (although I don't have one that they can yet identify, my body still acts in pregnancy like I have one!), and under no circumstances should it be self-prescribed.

I certainly attribute aspirin to the success of my second pregnancy however

i had 2 mc and was prescribed half an aspirin daily when i found out i was pregnant at 4 weeks. i went onto give birth to DD and i can only attribute the aspirin to the reason i did not Miscarry!

just to add that I was prescribed aspirin by the consultant in my 2nd preg (due any day now) as I developed severe pre-eclampsia with DD1. Something to do with placenta function and as I have existing hypertension. Studies have found it reduces the risk by 4 fold apparantly.
You should NEVER take it without being prescribed by your consultant and it is normally stopped at 36 weeks to reduce the chance of excessive bleeding at birth. Folic acid through out pregnancy is also thought to help with pre-eclampsia though still in the research stages.