Thrombophilia is a blood condition requiring treatment with blood thinners. According to a study published in Human Reproduction, women with this condition may be at a higher risk of profuse bleeding during delivery due to the use of blood thinners. However, researchers in a secondary study revealed that increased risk of bleeding is not associated with an increased risk of miscarriage.

About one in 100 women suffer from three or more miscarriages in a row. The factors associated with multiple miscarriages include age, structure of the womb and chromosomal abnormalities. This study aimed to provide more information about a potential connection between multiple miscarriages and thrombophilia.

A total of 363 women were included in the study. Of these women, 224 delivered full-term babies. Five babies were stillborn and 133 suffered miscarriages. At first, the rate of miscarriages among women with thrombophilia appeared higher with a birth rate of only 46% compared to 63% in women without the condition. However, researchers then took age and other risk factors into consideration and adjusted the rates based on these factors. The adjusted birth rate percentage was close enough to be statistically identical.

Women in the study being treated for thrombophilia did suffer from increased bleeding in some cases. Researchers noted that the study was aimed at miscarriage risk and not the effect of blood thinners on pregnancy health in general or risk of bleeding. Due to the small size of the study, researchers are looking to increase study size and further explore the potential risk of blood thinners causing multiple consecutive miscarriages in women with thrombophilia, and potentially other blood diseases requiring thinning of the blood.

Source: M. Lund, H.S. Nielsen, T.V. Hviid, R. Steffensen, A. Nyboe Andersen, O.B. Christiansen. Human Reproduction. 13 September, 2010.