Treatment gave me my longed for baby
I WAS surprised to read there is a ‘new’ treatment, progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone that helps the womb to develop, that will spare 8,000 women a year the agony of miscarriage. In 1972, after 11 years of heartbreak and many early miscarriages — the last one after carrying a baby for 12 weeks — I had a consultation with a gynaecologist in my home town of Huddersfield. He told me as soon as I thought I was pregnant, I was to make an appointment to see him for a pregnancy test. I did so and after he confirmed I was pregnant, he gave me an injection of Primolut-Depot, a progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) used to prevent pre-term birth in women with a history of the condition. Every four weeks until the last month of my pregnancy I was given these injections by a district nurse in my own home. For the last two months, I took the medication in tablet form. I was told it prevents bleeding and keeps the placenta attached to the uterus wall. Thanks to this treatment, and after so many attempts to carry a baby to full-term, I gave birth to my daughter Vicky, a little sister for her adopted sisters Zoe and Lisa. I am at a loss to understand why it has taken almost half a century to make this inexpensive treatment available on the NHS to pregnant women.
BRONWEN CRUICKSHANK,
Brighouse, W. York. PROGESTERONE is not a new treatment. I was given it in 1966 after suffering several miscarriages. I had to report to the doctor as soon as a pregnancy was suspected and was then given an injection every week for six months. This resulted in the successful birth of my first daughter. I had another girl in 1969, so what has happened in the intervening years?
MARLENE LEE, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.