Treatment that will spare 8,000 women agony of miscarriage

MORE than 8,000 women a year are to be spared the heartache of miscarriage thanks to a new NHS treatment.

Those at high risk of pregnancy loss will be given progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone that helps the womb to develop.

Experts said the new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) will prevent up to 8,450 miscarriages a year.

today Until the there watchdog’s was no recommended announcement treatment for those who miscarry repeatedly, with women simply told to keep trying for a baby. But now those who bleed in early pregnancy and have had at least one miscarriage before will be offered 400mg progesterone pessaries twice daily.

Around one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage – mostly in the first three months.

A study by Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research last year found that giving women extra progesterone can stop the losses.

It becomes more effective the more miscarriages a woman has had, but does not make much difference for those who have not miscarried before.

The inexpensive treatment will be available on the NHS immediately. Professor Gillian Leng, chief executive of Nice, said progesterone was ‘not a guarantee but certainly helps’.

She added: ‘The research evidence is clear that it’s not going to help everyone but it will help some women.

‘Progesterone is naturally produced during pregnancy and helps the woman’s body develop to support the growing foetus. The production of progesterone starts in the ovaries and moves to the placenta. There’s a phase where there might be a lack of progesterone.

‘So it is quite plausible that helping some women who are having recurrent miscarriages through giving extra progesterone will support the pregnancy.

‘The recommendation is to continue up until 16 weeks, when the placenta will naturally take over the production of progesterone’.

About one in five women experience bleeding in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and are advised to have it checked with their doctor or midwife.

Jane Brewin, chief executive of the pregnancy loss charity Tommy’s, said: ‘It’s great to see Nice taking our progesterone research on board in new miscarriage care guidelines, which will help save babies’ lives and spare parents heartache.

‘Miscarriage is often dismissed as “one of those things” we can’t do anything about – even by some healthcare professionals.

‘We hear from women who were denied progesterone treatment when they should have been eligible simply because their doctor wasn’t familiar with it. So we hope Nice’s recommendation will help end some of these ineclean qualities in miscarriage care that add more pain to an already unbearable experience.’

Professor Arri Coomarasamy, director of Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at the University of Birmingham, said the guidance was ‘a welcome change’, adding: ‘Our research has shown progesterone is a robust, effective treatment, but it’s not yet reaching everyone who might benefit.

‘This is an important step in tackling the variation in miscarriage services across the country and preventing these losses.’

The guidelines follow a trial in the UK last year involving 4,153 women who previously had a miscarriage and had early pregnancy bleeding. It found a 5 per cent increase in the number of babies born to women given progesterone compared with those given a placebo.

‘This will save babies’ lives’