Aspirin During Pregnancy May Help Preemies

Study finds slightly fewer behavioral issues among children whose moms took low doses

By Jennifer Thomas
HealthDay Reporter

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TUESDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- The children of women who take low-dose aspirin during pregnancy because they are at high risk for delivering prematurely might have fewer behavioral problems at age 5, new research suggests.

Obstetricians sometimes give low-dose aspirin to pregnant women who are apt to have such complications as fetal growth restriction (when a fetus doesn't grow properly in the womb) or preeclampsia (high blood pressure that's dangerous to both mother and the fetus), said Dr. Ashley Roman, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center. Roman was not involved in the research.

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In the study, French researchers used data on 656 children born before 33 weeks of gestation to 584 women from nine regions in France. A full-term birth is at 40 weeks' gestation. The women had a history of placental vascular disease, fetal growth restriction, chronic hypertension, and renal or autoimmune diseases.

About 21 percent of the women took low-dose aspirin during pregnancy.

At age 5, children whose mothers had taken aspirin were slightly less likely to have behavioral difficulties or hyperactivity, though the results were not statistically significant, according to the study.

In addition, the babies whose mothers had taken aspirin faced no increased risk for death, cerebral lesions or cerebral palsy.

One of the fears of giving aspirin to women during pregnancy is that aspirin interferes with platelet function, which is important for blood clotting. Because of that, it could raise the risk for brain bleeds in already susceptible premature infants, Roman said. The study found no increase in the risk for brain bleeds.

"This study is important because it helps reassure both us as the physician and patients that giving low-dose aspirin is not associated with a higher risk of problems in the baby," Roman said. "Not only is it not associated with problems right after the baby is born, but it's not associated with problems down the road."

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