Can Baby Aspirin Prevent Preeclampsia?

When you become pregnant for the first time, the last thing that crosses your mind is preeclampsia. Baby bump photos? Uh, yes. Cute baby outfits? Absolutely. That wine you drank last weekend before you knew you had a baby on board? Yikes, yes. But preeclampsia? Hell no. What is it even, anyhow?

What is preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia is a condition that can happen to a pregnant woman after the 20th week of pregnancy. It's a serious problem that usually involves very high blood pressure, and it may affect the mom's kidneys or liver. If your blood pressure is very high during pregnancy, it can also put extra stress on your heart and cause problems with your pregnancy.

Facts about Preeclampsia During Pregnancy

In a nutshell, preeclampsia affects your arteries. Your arteries deliver blood to your placenta. The placenta keeps your baby alive and well by providing blood, oxygen and nutrients. If the arteries aren't providing circulation to your placenta, it can't do it's job to keep your baby healthy. This can mean your baby's growth is slow. 

Now that you know what preeclampsia is, you may be wondering what the risk factors are for developing it. If it's serious enough to make you really sick and slow your baby's growth, I'm sure that you'll want to do everything you can to avoid it!

Risk Factors for Preeclampsia

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) have created a list of HIGH risk individuals and MODERATE risk people. 

High Risk Factors

- History of preeclampsia

- more than one fetus

- high blood pressure before pregnancy

- Diabetes Type 1 or 2, before pregnancy

- Kidney disease

- Autoimmune disease, like Lupus

Having any of these risk factors would put you at the greatest risk of developing preeclampsia.

Moderate Risk Factors

- this is your first baby OR it's been more than 10 years since you had a baby

- you're considered obese with a body mass index of 30 or higher (use the CDC calculator to measure yourself)

- family history of preeclampsia (has your sister or mother had it?)

- Women of colour, due to health disparities and racism in healthcare. Black pregnant women are more likely to experience preeclampsia than white women

- lower income

- age 35 or older

- in vitro fertilization

Having a combination of multiple-moderate risk factors would place you at a higher risk for preeclampsia.

If you have just one high risk factor or multiple moderate risk factors, you're a candidate for taking a low dose of Aspirin daily. The evidence shows that this reduces your risks of developing preeclampsia.

When should you take a low dose of aspirin during pregnancy?

The best time to start start low-dose aspirin is between 12 weeks and 28 weeks gestation (pregnancy) and continue to take it daily until you give birth.

Your healthcare provider should be screening you to determine if you're at high or moderate risk for preeclampsia. If they don't, be sure to ask them if you're a good candidate for a daily low-dose of aspirin (81mg per day) to help prevent this serious, life threatening condition during pregnancy.

Look, I know that things you read on the internet about pregnancy can be really scary. I hope that you feel informed about preeclampsia after reading this, not scared. 

Wondering what else you need to know before you give birth? Check out this post: 5 Things First-Time Moms Wished They'd Known Before Giving Birth 

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