Peaceful Pregnancy

How Progesterone Helps

By Lisa A. Goldstein

The important thing to remember is that progesterone is classified by the FDA as pregnancy category B, which means that it is not thought to be harmful to take while pregnant based on existing human and animal studies but irrefutable proof in human studies is not yet present. Dr. Ramin says additional studies are needed to examine its effectiveness in other high-risk and low-risk populations and to understand how it actually works.

New Jersey resident Ilya Welfeld, 30, who miscarried her second pregnancy, has successfully taken progesterone. At the beginning of her third pregnancy, blood test results indicated that her progesterone levels were dropping. Her doctor prescribed progesterone and told her to start taking it right away. "He said that studies were not clear on whether progesterone can save a pregnancy, but that it is something to try, and it has been shown to help," she says.

Welfeld now has a 5-month-old baby. She had a fetal echocardiogram at 23 weeks and is supposed to bring the baby to a heart doctor soon, because, she says, "years ago it was believed progesterone could be linked to heart problems in the baby."

Whether or not this risk is valid, Welfeld feels the risk of taking progesterone was minimal and no different than the risk of so many other things during a pregnancy. "I can't imagine regretting having taken the progesterone," she says. "I am pretty sure I would have miscarried without it. I would take it again if necessary in a future pregnancy."