Progesterone therapy could prevent thousands of preterm births

Nearly 10,000 preterm births could have been prevented in 2002 if all pregnant women at high risk for a premature baby and eligible for weekly injections of a derivative of the hormone progesterone had received them, according to a new study published in a recent issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The result would have been a reduction in the overall rate of preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks gestation) in the United States of about 2% from the 2002 rate of 12.1 to 11.8% said Joann R. Petrini, PhD, MPH, and colleagues from the March of Dimes, the Centers for Disease Control and...

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