Progesterone reduces premature birth 45%

Treating high-risk pregnant women with the hormone progesterone cut their rate of premature delivery by 45 percent and helped lower the risk of breathing complications in their babies, National Institute of Health researchers said on Wednesday. The late-stage study of a natural progesterone vaginal gel raises hopes for a simple way to prevent premature birth in women with a short cervix. Babies born too early -- before the 33rd week of pregnancy -- have a higher risk of early death and long-term health and developmental problems. In the United States, 12.8 percent of babies were born preterm in 2008, raising their risk of dying in their first year and having breathing difficulties, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, blindness and deafness. The findings were published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Bonnie - using natural progesterone to prevent premature delivery? Sounds very familiar (I am being facetious, of course).