Hormone fails to help twin mothers

Thursday June 11th, 2009

The hormone progesterone is not the answer for women bearing twins and facing premature birth, researchers reported last night.

The hormone treatment has been tested as a way of reducing the number of stillbirths and underweight babies arising from multiple pregnancies.

According to a report in The Lancet last night, it shows promise as a treatment for women carrying a single baby.

But there is no evidence that it works when a woman has multiple pregnancies.

The findings come from a study of some 500 women carrying twins in the UK. Women were randomly allocated a progesterone treatment or a fake treatment.

The researchers found that nearly 25 per cent of women gave birth prematurely - or lost a baby before 34 weeks after taking progesterone treatment. This compared with 19 per cent of those who had a fake treatment.

Researcher Professor Jane Norman, of Edinburgh University, UK, writes: "Progestogens are not effective in women with twin pregnancy for prevention of preterm delivery."

The Lancet on-line June 11 2009

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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