Some pregnant women may benefit from low daily doses of aspirin. An influential panel of U.S. experts suggests that women who are at a high risk of a serious condition, preeclampsia, begin taking the aspirin daily after their first trimester.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force says that taking low doses of aspirin (81 milligrams) on a daily basis in middle to late stages of pregnancy can greatly reduce the risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women. Additionally, it can decrease the risk of preterm births or low birth weight that results from the pregnancy-related condition.

According to the new review, beginning this regimen of daily aspirin can reduce the risk of preeclampsia by 24 percent.

Chairman of the task force and vice chair of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, Dr. Michael LeFevre, told HealthDay News, “Preeclampsia is one of the more common causes of serious health problems for both the expectant mother and their baby.” He continued, “At least for pregnant women at high risk for preeclampsia, a low dose of aspirin taken daily can help prevent the condition and improve the outcome for both mother and child.”

Preeclampsia is a condition that occurs when a pregnant woman develops high blood pressure and excessive amounts of protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy, late in the second or third semester.

According to recent information from a recent edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, nearly four percent of all pregnancies in the U.S. are affected by this condition.