Six-and-a-half months pregnant, Melissa Shemanski of Hawley gently rubs her rounded belly, talking to the life within. “Mama loves you. And everything is going to be okay.”
Lily Anna Fox is due in February and her parents couldn’t be happier. She’s their miracle. Melissa and longtime boyfriend Peter Fox had been trying to get pregnant for four years.
The couple was devastated last year, when Melissa miscarried at one-and-a-half months. “It was just so depressing. I dwelled on it for quite sometime,” she says. Though they hadn’t given up, Melissa says it was hard. “You want to get pregnant, and you’re marking the calendar— and nothing.”
But then her mom, BillieJo Shemanski, read about a study being conducted by The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC). The EAGeR (Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction) Study was looking for women, between the ages of 18 and 40, who had suffered one or two pregnancy losses in past, but were stilling hoping to become pregnant. “The rationale behind the study is to see if taking (low dose) aspirin before you get pregnant, at the time of conception, with the increased blood flow to the uterus would help prevent those early pregnancy losses,” said Betsy Mead, RN, BSN, Clinical Research Associate with TCMC. Since it’s a double blinded study, participants would not know if they were receiving aspirin or a placebo.
Recruiting for the clinical trial began in January, seeking 1600 women nationally to participate in the program, hoping as many as 300 would come from the northeast region. Project Coordinator Cathie McGeehan, MSN, RN, says they have 30 participants locally (3 from the Wayne County area) and are eagerly seeking more.
Dr. Janet Townsend, TCMC Principal Investigator of the EAGeR study, says 12 of the 30 women participating regionally are currently pregnant, while another five have already given birth to healthy babies. Saying the study does not get “unblinded” at the time of birth, Dr. Townsend said they do not know which of the mothers were given aspirin or just folic acid.
The study provides free folic acid pills to all participants, the use of a fertility monitor to track estrogen, pregnancy test and the support of the EAGeR team.
“Once enrolled in the study, the women collect urine, use a fertility monitor and keep a daily diary ... They have appointments at the EAGeR Study office in the Sandy Furey Medical Building at Moses Taylor Hospital every two weeks for the first two months and then monthly. “Blood and urine are collected at most visits. We do follow-up phone calls in the interim. The usual enrollment in the study is for 6 months unless they become pregnant at which point we continue to follow them for 15 months. If they become pregnant, and our pregnancy rates are high compared to other sites, they are seen in the EAGeR office once a month. The women continue to see their own OB/GYN physician. The EAGeR office visits provide surveillance in addition to their private OB/GYN,” McGeehan said.
This particular study seeks women who have not had more than two miscarriages and do not have underlying chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. To find out more about the free EAGeR study, please call 570-207-1058, email EAGeR@tcmedc.org or visit TCMC’s website at www.thecommonwealthmedical.com/EAGeR.
“I just urge a lot of girls who have had a miscarriage ...and want to become pregnant to try again ...I’m so glad I got involved in the study,” Shemanski said.
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Six-and-a-half months pregnant, Melissa Shemanski of Hawley gently rubs her rounded belly, talking to the life within. “Mama loves you. And everything is going to be okay.”
Lily Anna Fox is due in February and her parents couldn’t be happier. She’s their miracle. Melissa and longtime boyfriend Peter Fox had been trying to get pregnant for four years.
The couple was devastated last year, when Melissa miscarried at one-and-a-half months. “It was just so depressing. I dwelled on it for quite sometime,” she says. Though they hadn’t given up, Melissa says it was hard. “You want to get pregnant, and you’re marking the calendar— and nothing.”
But then her mom, BillieJo Shemanski, read about a study being conducted by The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC). The EAGeR (Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction) Study was looking for women, between the ages of 18 and 40, who had suffered one or two pregnancy losses in past, but were stilling hoping to become pregnant. “The rationale behind the study is to see if taking (low dose) aspirin before you get pregnant, at the time of conception, with the increased blood flow to the uterus would help prevent those early pregnancy losses,” said Betsy Mead, RN, BSN, Clinical Research Associate with TCMC. Since it’s a double blinded study, participants would not know if they were receiving aspirin or a placebo.
Recruiting for the clinical trial began in January, seeking 1600 women nationally to participate in the program, hoping as many as 300 would come from the northeast region. Project Coordinator Cathie McGeehan, MSN, RN, says they have 30 participants locally (3 from the Wayne County area) and are eagerly seeking more.
Dr. Janet Townsend, TCMC Principal Investigator of the EAGeR study, says 12 of the 30 women participating regionally are currently pregnant, while another five have already given birth to healthy babies. Saying the study does not get “unblinded” at the time of birth, Dr. Townsend said they do not know which of the mothers were given aspirin or just folic acid.
The study provides free folic acid pills to all participants, the use of a fertility monitor to track estrogen, pregnancy test and the support of the EAGeR team.
“Once enrolled in the study, the women collect urine, use a fertility monitor and keep a daily diary ... They have appointments at the EAGeR Study office in the Sandy Furey Medical Building at Moses Taylor Hospital every two weeks for the first two months and then monthly. “Blood and urine are collected at most visits. We do follow-up phone calls in the interim. The usual enrollment in the study is for 6 months unless they become pregnant at which point we continue to follow them for 15 months. If they become pregnant, and our pregnancy rates are high compared to other sites, they are seen in the EAGeR office once a month. The women continue to see their own OB/GYN physician. The EAGeR office visits provide surveillance in addition to their private OB/GYN,” McGeehan said.
This particular study seeks women who have not had more than two miscarriages and do not have underlying chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. To find out more about the free EAGeR study, please call 570-207-1058, email EAGeR@tcmedc.org or visit TCMC’s website at www.thecommonwealthmedical.com/EAGeR.
“I just urge a lot of girls who have had a miscarriage ...and want to become pregnant to try again ...I’m so glad I got involved in the study,” Shemanski said.
