The hormone "can reduce the risk of miscarriage"

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Samantha Allen

One study suggests that administering the hormone progesterone to women who have had a miscarriage and have early bleeding during pregnancy could improve their chances of having a baby.

Birmingham researchers conducted a trial of 4,000 pregnant women.

Samantha Allen, 31, had spotting when she lost her first baby and again during her second pregnancy.

After taking the hormone for eight weeks, she gave birth to her son Noah.

Progesterone is an essential hormone during pregnancy – to maintain the uterine lining where the embryo is implanted and to support the immune system.

Samantha was seen prescribing pessaries to progesterone during the test, which she took twice a day until the age of 16 weeks.

She stated that the bleeding stopped less than a week after the start of the trial and that the pregnancy had progressed very well.

She now hopes that more women who have had a miscarriage could benefit.

"I just hope that they will not have to go through the same heartache – it will hurt you," she said.

A miscarriage affects one in five women and vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of developing this disease.

With progesterone already used in IVF treatment, Samantha said she was not hesitant to participate in the trial.

"I'm happy to have participated, that did not seem like a risk, as it was not a start of the trial."

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Samantha Allen

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at a group of about 2,000 pregnant women receiving progesterone, while another group of the same number was receiving a placebo, a pill dummy.

All women had bleeding in early pregnancy.

Although the study showed that the hormone could not help all women with early bleeding, the benefits were at best in women with a history of recurrent miscarriage (three or more).

Among these women, the birth rate increased by 15% – 98 women out of 137 have a baby, compared to 85 out of 148 in the placebo group.

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Arri Coomarasamy, head of the study and consultant gynecologist at the Birmingham Children's Hospital, said the treatment could save thousands of babies' lives.

"We hope that this evidence will be reviewed by the National Institute for Excellence in Health and Care and that it will be used to update national guidelines for women at risk of miscarriage" , did he declare.

At the present time, when women are potentially miscarried, "we can not offer them anything," he says.

But he said the treatment would not work for all women who have a miscarriage, because there are many complex reasons why a miscarriage occurs.

Only women with a problem with progesterone could benefit, he added.

Jane Brewin, Executive Director of the Tommy Charity, said, "The results of this study are important for parents who have had a miscarriage, and they now have a treatment option. robust and effective that will save many lives and avoid a lot of grief.

"This gives us confidence in the belief that further research will lead to more treatment and ultimately prevent many more miscarriages."