NEW YORK: A new study has found no increased risk of miscarriage with aspirin use. But more research is needed, the study’s lead author told Reuters Health, to establish that aspirin is indeed safe for pregnant women.

“The findings of this study indicate that taking aspirin may not be risky, but women should really talk with their doctor before taking aspirin or anything else if they are pregnant,” Sarah A. Keim of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland, said in an interview.

Recent studies have linked nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include aspirin and many other painkillers, to a greater risk of miscarriage, Keim and her colleague Mark A. Klebanoff note in their report in the journal Epidemiology.

While aspirin is no longer widely used as a painkiller, they add, some physicians recommend it to women who are trying to become pregnant and have had several miscarriages, based on the possibility that the drug could treat underlying inflammation or clotting abnormalities that may be responsible for pregnancy loss. “But that’s controversial,” Keim said.—Reuters