Daily dose of aspirin ‘could help pregnant women’

LONDON - Taking aspirin daily during pregnancy could help prevent complications in women at risk of high blood pressure, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said.igh blood pressure in pregnancy can be harmul and is associated with the condition pre-eclampsia.

It is more common in first-time pregnancies and can lead to premature birth, stillbirth and babies being smaller than average.

Mothers are also at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure later in life, which is linked to heart disease and strokes.

Nice recommends that women with high blood pressure at moderate to high risk of pre-eclampsia take a low dose (75mg) of aspirin.

This should be taken every day from the 12th week of pregnancy until birth, according to the guideline for the NHS in England and Wales.

Aspirin is not routinely given to pregnant women and Nice hopes the advice will ensure consistent standards across the country.

“Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can be fairly common and can develop at any time during pregnancy. If not properly managed, it can cause serious health problems,” Sky News quoted Fergus Macbeth, director of the centre for clinical practice at Nice, as saying. (ANI)