Every year, thousands of women suffer through the physical and emotional pain of a unexplained miscarriage. Miscarriage is actually quite common. . .approximately 1 in 4 women miscarry a pregnancy at some point in their lives. Many of those women suffer recurring miscarriages without other medical indicators that might explain why they aren’t able to carry a baby full term.
Now, there may be hope for women who have had spontaneous miscarriages. It is thought that these kinds of recurring miscarriages are due to problems with the mother’s clotting system. So researchers are experimenting with a combination of drugs that work on the clotting system.
The trial uses aspirin and an anti-clotting drug known as heparin to tackle the blood clotting issue as well as inflammation. The drugs work together effectively, and so far, there have been several babies that have been born healthy to mothers who thought that they could not carry a baby full term.
The trial has its demands: in addition to taking aspirin during the pregnancy, heparin is given via daily injections every day for 9 months during the pregnancy. Heparin is very safe to take during pregnancy because it does not cross the placenta. Aspirin, on the other hand is generally not recommended in pregnancy although most experts agree that small doses of aspirin is okay. (Note: That’s NOT to say that if you’re pregnant and have a headache that aspirin is fine. Remember, these women were being monitored and taking aspirin under the direction of a doctor.)
Right now, the trial is only occurring in New Zealand and Scotland. So far the study has seen no damage to the placentas or babies as a result of the drugs and the rate for stopping miscarriage is 100%. Although the study is still very small to draw definitive conclusions regarding the success of the treatment, it is promising and they are hoping to get 200 participants for another trial.
I think for women who have suffered successive miscarriages without being able to carry full term, this study could have fantastic implications and allow such women to have healthy, full term babies. Like all trials, there are concerns, but I’m sure for many of the women in the study who are now holding babies, it was a small price to pay.