Previous studies suggested that giving progesterone to women with a history of recurrent miscarriages could lower the risk in them. However, a latest study conducted by researchers at the University of Birmingham seems to falsify the previously known thought.

Progesterone is a hormone which is though to be essential for the maintenance of pregnancy as it prepares the wall of the uterus for attachment to the fertilised egg. Lower doses of progesterone in the female body were earlier associated with spontaneous abortion. Therefore, the physicians believed that prescribing progesterone supplement could help increase the number of live births.

However, the recent study suggests that taking progesterone supplements during the first trimester of pregnancy might not help women carry a pregnancy until its term. Based on clinical trial data that lasted for over a period of five years, the researchers say that progesterone supplement does not seem to improve the outcome in women with a history of unexplained miscarriage.

During the study, the researchers found that 826 pregnant women with a history of unexplained miscarriage, who received progesterone therapy during the first trimester, were at no less risk of miscarriage than women who received a placebo. The results remained the same even when the team took into account other factors, including age, pregnancy history, ethnicity and medical condition.

"We had hoped, like many people, that this research would confirm progesterone as an effective treatment. Though disappointing, it does address a question that has remained unanswered since progesterone was first proposed as a treatment back in 1953. Fortunately, there are a number of other positives that we can take from the trial as a whole," said Professor Arri Coomarasamy, in a press statement.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, further confirmed that there were no significant negative impact of progesterone on mothers or their babies. The researchers say that this is an important aspect for women who take progesterone as a line of treatment for other issues, including those associated with fertility.

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