Women who are at high risk of miscarriage have hope with major NHS reform

A drug will be given to women at greater risk of miscarriage. “help save babies’ lives”.

Many moms-to be can now take progesterone during the first stages of pregnancy if they have had miscarriages.

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Women who are pregnant or have been confirmed can take the hormone twice daily.

This is after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, (Nice), issued an updated version of its guidance regarding miscarriage.

Charity Tommy’s has stated that the move will be “help save babies’ lives and spare parents heartache”.

Nice recommended that foetus heartbeats be confirmed by micronized progesterone treatment twice daily for 16 weeks.

Progesterone treatment could be available to around 1,200 women who have had a miscarriage or experienced bleeding during early pregnancy.

Tommy said that the move could stop as many as 8,450 miscarriages per year.

Nice’s committee ruled that it should not be offered to women who have experienced early pregnancy bleeding and no previous miscarriage or women who have had previous miscarriages but are experiencing no early pregnancy bleeding.

Although there is not enough evidence to exclude the possibility of rare events, it was stated that there is no evidence to suggest that progesterone causes harm to either the mother or the baby.

Jane Brewin, Tommy’s chief executive, said that Nice is taking their progesterone research aboard in their new miscarriage treatment guidelines. This will help babies live longer and save parents pain.

“Miscarriage can be dismissed as “one of those things” that we cannot do anything about, even by some healthcare professionals who may not specialize in this area to have the most current evidence.

“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 inequalities in miscarriage care that add more pain to an already unbearable experience.”

Progesterone is responsible for preparing the uterus (womb), to support the newly fertilized egg in the early stages of pregnancy.

Some women may not have enough progesterone to miscarry in the first stage.

Giving them supplements could be a way to avoid recurring miscarriage.

Director of Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at Birmingham University, Professor ArriCoomarasamy stated: “The miscarriage treatment guidelines from Nice are a very welcome departure after many years of researching the use of progesterone, and working to make it more accessible.

“Our research shows that progesterone can be a strong and effective treatment option, but it is not available to everyone who may benefit,” said Dr. Michael A. Smith.

“This new recommendation from Nice is an important step in tackling the current variation in miscarriage services across the country and preventing these losses wherever possible.”