A research team at the RVI, led by a Consultant Obstetrician, are investigating providing heparin as a tablet rather than as an injection as this could be a more convenient option for new mums.
One of the tablet options, dabigatran, has been used to prevent blood clots in non-pregnant patients. Due to its chemical structure, the researchers suspect that it won’t pass into breastmilk but this needs to be tested to ensure it is a safe option for breastfeeding mums.
The research team have encouraging data from 2 non-breastfeeding mothers who took dabigatran and gave breastmilk samples over a 10 hour period.
The next step is to extend this work by getting samples from more non-breastfeeding mothers over 24 hours. If successful, this will result in mothers being offered tablets to prevent blood clots instead of injections.
The research team would like to talk to a small group of mums to gain feedback and comments about the next step of this research. They would like to discuss…
- Information on how women value tablets compared to injections
- Identifying potential barriers to women participating in the study
- Study design to make it acceptable to women
Session details
- It will run on EITHER October 14th or 28th at 1pm – just let me know which date works best for you.
- This is an informal session which will last for about an hour. Please feel free to meet the needs of your baby during the session – feed, change and soothe as you need to.
- The researchers would like to talk to mums with a young baby.
- It is a small, informal group with about 4 mums and it runs over Zoom – you will be sent an invitation to join the session.
- I will also be there to co-facilitate the session.
About the research sessions
Researchers from Newcastle University and The Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust regularly work with pregnant women, mums and families to take part in antenatal & postnatal research discussion sessions.
The sessions run a few times a year and each one lasts for about 60 minutes. They are informal and friendly sessions, which are currently running over Zoom.
The researchers benefit from the discussion and your feedback on their research projects.
If you would like to join, please just send me a message.
And a huge thank you – your input is so valuable to research, it makes such a difference to researchers and each project.

Janine Smith | A specialist in pregnancy, birth and early parenting
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