Anyone taking Fragmin whilst pregnant?

[MrsRigby]

I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last week and prescribed Fragmin 7,500 twice a day.

I'm 9 weeks pregnant.

*Has anyone taken Fragmin whilst pregnant?
*What happened when you went into labour and gave birth?
*Were you able to breastfeed?

*Most importantly when you gave birth, was the child healthy or deformed in some way?

Hi MrsR

I took Fragmin with DS2 (whos now 3!) as I was diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder after going through recurrent mc.

I took it from 4 weeks until 6 weeks after the birth. I had a section but that was due to low water and previous EMCS.

I think breastfeeding is fine.

DS2 is absolutely fine! Women take Fragmin/Clexine everyday in pregnany, it is very common. DS2 is a little bit nuts but this is not due to the injections

Thank you so much julezboo, that is most reassuring .

i am a staff nurse and regularly give clexaine to women who are pg and diagnosed with PE. Perfectly safe.

Thanks ladyjadey .

i am on 5000ui Fragmin once per day as well as 150mg aspirin. I take it because of a clotting issue which has caused 3 previous miscarriages.

I am currently 35w and will stop taking it when i get to 38w. This is to allow me to have an epidural for the birth. I will then go back on it for 6 weeks post birth. i could stay on it continuously but I would not then be able to have an epi.

My baby is fine with no complications or other issues arising from the fragmin. breastfeeding will be unaffected.

Good luck!

I did! DS2 is 13 weeks and I injected daily from 6 wks. I didn't stop the clexane at all - was still able to have epidural as it was 24 hours after my last injection when I asked for it iyswim. Lots of other people stop it at 38 weeks though.

I had to inject daily for the first 6 weeks after birth. No probs BF was advised no risks. No deformities or anything - it can't cross the placenta. Hardly any bleeding after the birth either.

Practically everyone is on clexane these days The bruising can be spectacular on the injection sites though - remember to do alternate legs or something.

I have taken fragmin/clexane in 5 pregnancies (due to dvt in first pg)- all babies have been fine.

In relation to labour, I was told that if I went into labour in the middle of the night not to inject in the morning. I didn't go into labour in the morning in any of my pregnancies.

i was offered an epidural in one of my labours, allthough I didn't have it. I'm not sure if there is a problem with epidurals now, but I think it is the case that you can have one (or a c-section) if the injection was long enough away.

I didn't suffer any bleeding problems in labour.

I wasn't allowed a home birth (in any of my labours) or to be in the non-medical bit of the labour ward. I did go on to have natural vaginal deliveries with all of them though.

I breastfed all of mine for over a year (after birth I was put on warfarin which is safe).

I think that one of the main issues of long term fragmin/clexane is the possibility of osteoporosis for the mother. But I dont think one pregnancy is long enough.

Sorry about your PE - it must have been very scary. and quite unusual to happen so early in a pregnancy too?.

Thank you so much pollybloodyanna, owlingate and thesugarplumfairy. I'm feeling more and more reassured.

I've never had a serious illness in my life and my first pregnancy was a doddle, so this did come left of field.

And I don't like needles!

Thank you so much everyone.

Sorry to hear about your pe , it must have been scary being told that. I know how scary it was when I was told that I had dvt 3wks after having my last baby it was mis diagnosed to start with so it spread. Then found out I had a blood clotting disorder.

So now I'm taking fragmin once a day since 5wks am now 8 wks it does get a little easy with the injections each time you do it ( they say practice makes perfect)

I posted last week about the same thing there are lots of us on here in the same boat, it's good to hear from others and supporting each other.

Hi There!

I also had a PE & DVT a few years ago due to having a blot clotting disorder set off my the contraceptive pill & was prescribed daily injections of Fragmin throughout my pregnancy just as a precaution, i am now 35 weeks with our first bub

The Doc has assured me that there is no risk to bub & will be stopping the injections at 38 weeks & will be able to breastfeed after, i will also be on the injections 8 weeks post delivery, as this is when there is most chance of clotting.
He did say that you wont be able to have a epi if the Fragmin is still in your system, though each injection only lasts 24 hours each apparently.
it is so reassuring that other mums are going through the same thing as it can be quite scary the first time around worrying if it will effect the bub.

Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy

I am on fragmion and have been for all of my previous pregnancies

it is perfectly safe your baby will be fine and I was able to breast feed on it as well

as for the birth it depends on your heamatologist with my son I was a on a treatment dose because of a dvt and they induced me and and I was on a drip for the labour stopped about 4 hours for delivery and restarted once I had had a shower

this time on a prventative dose they are saying I might be able to go naturally but i guess they may change their minds

either way both births have been fine,only gas and air and diamorphine ( would have had this anyway if they hadn't induced) and bothe normal deliveries
one thing the fragmin can affect is an epidural which is why they took me in and induced me so if I wanted an epidural that it would be ok

loobyloo, autumnbub and susiey thank you all so much.

Hi Ladies, i have just come across this thread which has been very helpful. I have recently been advised to take Clexane until birth due to a possible blood clot. Im just over 11 weeks now and am slightly on the larger side so my consultant has advised me to inject twice a day with each dose being 100mg so a total of 200mg each day.

Im just a little concerned as this seems so much to take in one day, has anyone else heard of this much?
Also im currenly injecting into my tummy but see that the top of the leg is also a good place, is there any harm injecting into your tummy? I wasnt told about the leg.

Sorry for all the questions, im just so worried.

Are your haemoglobin levels quite high with a clotting disorder?

I'm 30 weeks and I've just been told my haemoglobin levels are quite high - 13.9 (they were 14.4 at booking) - but my midwives were saying that's good - I since looked it up and found that actually it is bad and I could have a clotting disorder... sorry to hijack your thread but am curious

Mummahg,

The dose of clexane you are having is a treatment dose, not a preventative dose. It is based on weight, usually prescribed as 1.5 mg per kilogram, so although your dose may seem high it is perfectly normal. It is a subcutaneous (under the skin) injection, so you can have it anywhere you have a bit of extra flesh.... tummy, thigh, top of your arm. Having it in your tum will do the baby no harm at all, the needle goes just under the skin and your LO is well protected far below where the needle could reach.

Hi mummahg 200mg a day actually sounds quite low to me as I'm on fragmin 7,500 twice a day. I was advised to either inject in my tummy or top of the sides of my legs. I opted not to inject the tummy with being pregnant and I'm glad I haven't as I've bruises, needle marks and lumps on my legs now. No harm injecting into your tummy.

Sorry asparagusaddict I've no idea. Hijack away .

5 yrs ago I had a DVT in my right leg. The doctor advise me to take the injections starting today (12 weeks along) I am so glad to have found this sight, up until now I had many worries and concerns. I still have a few questions to ask the doctor, especially about taking the fragmin and getting an epidural. My pharmacist has reassured me that this was safest thing for me and the baby. I am now working on getting the courage to inject myself. My husband will do it for me (as he did 5 yrs ago). He's pretty good at it

im on clexane because im immobile (due to SPD) and have been for a couple weeks now, and i will be on it until 4 weeks after the birth i think, all bar stopping for the actual delivery. like someone else posted earlier in the thread i was told not to take my next injection if i thought labour was coming on (as im due to have a csection most likely).

sooo many people take it in pregnancy these days with no adverse effects im sure you will be fine

I had a blood clot in my leg at the age of 14 this was caused by being on the pill for 6 months, I was on this due to bad periods which I have always suffered with. I found out I was pregnant in march this year now nearly 26, I wasn't trying for a baby it was a shock!
I decided very easily I wanted to keep my baby, at my dating scan which turned out to be 9 weeks I was told I needed to inject 5000 ui fragmin. Which wasn't a problem as was told it wouldn't harm the baby.

Then as I got to 12 weeks I found out I had another blood clot in my leg, so the docs quadrupled the dose to 20000 ui per day, in two separate injections. then two days later I woke up with bad bleeding obviously i thought the worst, I spent the day in A&E and had to wait until the next day for a scan but thank god the baby was ok. however my bleeding is still continuing and I am concerned that the docs have put me on a too much fragmin?

has anyone else had a similar problem?

Hi everyone I have been on Fragmin since my scan showed baby heartbeat at 6 Week scan. This was due to recurrent miscarriage. My first ever injection was my tummy but it bruised so badly that I changed to the top of my legs. I have had the odd bad bruise but your legs must get used to it as mine are like leather now!! I'm 37 weeks today and was supposed to stay on the fragmin until labour started however I had my last scan yesterday and they have told me to stop them as of next week as it stops the 12hour gap thing between injections. I have to say I'm both relieved because my birth will hopefully be normal but a bit scared of stopping them because of baby and the fact I have been on them so long and we don't fully know if that is what saved this little one from miscarriage... Xxx

No but I am on Heparin, Is that the same? Heparin is fine during pregnancy, it's just Warfarin (the tablets) that can't be taken in pregnancy.

Hi can someone please advise if diagnosed that i need fragmin in pregnancy...do i need to take it preconception or just when i am confirmed pregnant and then thru pregnancy of course...?
Reason being i am now ovulating... And only seeing new doctor re fragmin next week but by them ive missed my window! ?? So any advice?!
I have had one normal preg and he is super healthy and then miscarried once and they put it down to clotting so now they recommend fragmin for future pregnancies.... What are side affects?!

It depends on some things.

I take 5000mg of fragmin once a day because I have a history of DVT (not while pregnant), and have a blood clotting disorder. I went to see my GP about being pregnant before we stopped using contraception, and she said that as soon as I got a positive pregnancy test, I should go back in for a prescription. There was no mention of me taking it whilst trying to conceive - mostly I think because I was fairly relaxed about whether it happened or not (I'm 40, I thought my age might cause more issue than the blood clotting disorder). I went in the day after I had a positive test result, didn't even see my normal GP but a locum, who gave me 8 weeks of fragmin straight off.

Also, fragmin and injecting myself wasn't a new thing for me - I'd been doing it on and off for various reasons since my DVT in 1999. They knew that I knew how to manage it.

For the OP, hopefully it's long enough ago now that you have the answers! For anyone else, I've just been told that as soon as I have niggles towards labour, I should stop injecting - only because if I need an epidural or a spinal it might cause problems with that. The only other thing that has been mentioned regards birth is that the risk of PPH is higher, so I should have a managed third stage.

To be honest, it's not caused me any issues while being pregnant at all - apart from not really enjoying injecting myself, obviously.