Baby Aspirin in IVF
Baby Aspirin – is it safe?
Why do doctors prescribe baby aspirin in the early stages of IVF treatment? What is the benefit, and what are the risks? C.
Baby Aspirin is typically prescribed for Women whilst they are undergoing IVF treatment. Early studies have suggested that there is a benefit to the use of Baby Aspirin but, further studying is required just to see the extensiveness of how effective Baby Aspirin can really be.
The benefit of baby aspirin in IVF
A common use for Baby Aspirin is for Women who have recurring pregnancy problems, one of the causes of pregnancy loss involves issues in the immune system; particularly, issues with the body developing antibodies to components of the blood vessel wall called phospholipids. It’s still unclear as to why the body makes these antibodies, but they can block blood flow through small blood vessels in the placenta which is harmful to your body. Baby Aspirin can prevent this from happening by helping to keep the placental blood vessels open.
The risks
The use of a single aspirin taken daily blocks the vascular constricting compound, whilst avoiding interference with the compound that promotes placental blood flow. It’s important to note that while a single baby aspirin works, you should know that taking more does not mean improved results, rather it works in the opposite way and can cause extreme harm by blocking both compounds.
Baby Aspirin also has a chance of blocking blood platelets, these platelet clumps function to repair small tears or breaks in blood vessels, but for so far unknown reasons, excessive clumping may occur, resulting in decreased placental blood flow.
Recommendations
If you have faced recurring pregnancy loss, then your doctor may recommend using heparin injections twice a day with one baby aspirin a day during your IVF cycle to help keep the blood vessels in the placenta open. Most physicians suggest that there is a benefit from coupling heparin with aspirin for Women undergoing IVF when there are antiphospholipids present. Several recent studies have failed to find a benefit with this treatment, so research is ongoing still to find the perfect balance for Baby Aspirin so that there are no longer any risks.
Conclusion
The real question is, is it safe? At EmBIO, we believe it to be a safe method so long as the aspirin is no longer taken after 36 weeks of pregnancy. When baby aspirin is taken before 36 weeks of pregnancy then it reduces the risk of abnormal bleeding by a considerable amount.
