Many women who are trying to get pregnant begin using vitamins and supplements to improve their chances of becoming pregnant. One of the most commonly used, albeit incorrectly used, supplements is baby aspirin. Although baby aspirin is unlikely to do any harm, it likely isn’t helping a woman to conceive either.
How do women supplement with aspirin while trying to conceive?
Many women mistakenly believe that using aspirin while trying to conceive will improve the odds of becoming pregnant. Because of this inaccurate belief, women trying to conceive often add a “baby aspirin” to their daily supplements. A baby aspirin is simply a low dose aspirin, typically 81mg.
Why is aspirin believed to assist in conception?
Many women hoping to conceive are under the mistaken impression that taking baby aspirin will help achieve and sustain a pregnancy by promoting blood flow to the uterus, and thickening the lining of the uterus. Unfortunately, very little research has been done to back up this claim, and thus, there is very little information available regarding whether or not aspirin improves the chances of conception. The studies that have been conducted, show very mixed results. Regardless, for the majority of women, aspirin will not make a difference in achieving a pregnancy.
Does aspirin help improve conception rates for any women?
Although aspirin is unlikely to improve the conception rate among women of the general population, there is a very small portion of women who genuinely benefit from the use of aspirin while trying to conceive. Women who suffer from a rare autoimmune condition known as antiphopholipid antibody syndrome (APS) are likely to benefit from aspirin consumption when trying to conceive due to the ability of aspirin to prevent the antiphopholipids from attacking the phopholipids which literally bind the ball of cells that will become a fetus together. This disorder, however, is very rare. Women who suffer from this condition are much more likely to suffer a miscarriage than women who do not. However, a history of miscarriage does not indicate that a woman suffers from this disorder.
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