The hormone progesterone may help prevent women from having a second miscarriage, according to a study involving more than 4100 pregnant women.
The study tested the hormone as a treatment for women who were experiencing bleeding during early pregnancy. Around half the women were given progesterone as a vaginal pessary twice a day, while the rest were given a placebo instead.
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The treatment didn鈥檛 appear to help all the women, but it did seem to have an effect in those who had previously had a miscarriage.
In women who鈥檇 had one or two miscarriages, 76 per cent of those given progesterone went on to have a live birth, compared with 72 per cent of the placebo group.
Among women who鈥檇 had three or more miscarriages, 72 per cent of those given progesterone went on to have a live birth, compared with 52 per cent of the placebo group.
鈥淥ur finding that women who are at risk of a miscarriage because of current pregnancy bleeding and a history of a previous miscarriage could benefit from progesterone treatment has huge implications,鈥� says Arri Coomarasamy at the University of Birmingham, UK. 鈥淲e hope that this evidence will be used to update national guidelines for women at risk of miscarriage.鈥�
Journal reference:聽New England Journal of Medicine
