Taking aspirin each night lowers risk of pre-eclampsia, major study finds

Major research: Taking an aspirin a night could reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia
Shutterstock / luanateutzi

Taking aspirin each night during pregnancy reduces the risk of the life-threatening condition pre-eclampsia, a major study confirmed today.

The condition normally results in the baby being born early and can cause the mother to have fits, threatening her life and that of the child in extreme cases.

A trial led by Professor Kypros Nicolaides, a world-renowned foetal medicine expert at King’s College hospital, found low doses of aspirin resulted in a 62 per cent reduction in the condition where babies were born before 37 weeks.

There was an 82 per cent fall in pre-eclampsia in babies being born before 34 weeks, compared with similarly high-risk women who were not taking aspirin. Previous studies had already suggested that women who take aspirin during pregnancy are less likely to develop pre-eclampsia.

Today’s results are the first to offer “definitive proof” of the benefits — prompting calls for it to be routinely prescribed to women at risk of pre-eclampsia. Professor Nicolaides said: “This extensive study is definitive proof that women can take simple measures in the first trimester of pregnancy to significantly reduce their chances of developing pre-term [before 37 weeks] pre-eclampsia.”

Co-author Professor David Wright, of Exeter university, said: “The results show that aspirin can prevent pre-eclampsia in high risk pregnancies.

“I hope that they will alter clinical practice and improve pregnancy outcomes for mothers and their babies.”

The condition affects about six per cent of pregnancies, with severe cases developing in one to two per cent of pregnancies.

The trial, at 13 maternity hospitals in the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece and Italy, involved 1,776 women pregnant with one baby judged to be at higher risk of developing the condition before 37 weeks.

The study, announced today at World Congress in Fetal Medicine in Slovenia, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT