Unfractionated heparin and placental pathology in high-risk pregnancies: Secondary analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Heparin is often prescribed during pregnancy with the intention of improving perinatal outcomes on the basis that it exerts an anticoagulant action in the inter-villous space. Accumulating in-vitro and in-vivo evidence indicates that heparin's beneficial effects in pregnancy may result from 'non-anticoagulant' effects including the promotion of angiogenesis. METHODS: To study the effect of heparin within the placenta, we performed …