Progesterone is an important hormone in the female reproductive cycle and is vital in maintaining a pregnancy in the last half of the menstrual cycle as well as throughout the pregnancy.
After conception, it is the progesterone produced by the corpus luteum (the cyst left over when the egg is released) that maintains the pregnancy until the minute placenta takes over and begins to secrete the progesterone that helps the pregnancy go on.
Progesterone is important in creating a fertile and warm environment inside the womb, helping the new embryo (fertilized egg divided) grow through a healthy implantation. It also strengthens and maintains the secretory endometrium that the new embryo imbeds itself in. It prevents the premature shedding of the secretory endometrium in menstruation.
A low progesterone level can result in a period which is just a few days too early for the embryo to take hold so it is lost in menstruation. In normal menstruation, when no egg is fertilized, there is a precipitous drop in progesterone, triggering menses.
In a healthy pregnancy, progesterone increases rapidly at the time of ovulation to create a secretory-type endometrium, which is the kind of endometrium suitable for implantation. The progesterone level remains high and goes exponentially higher as the pregnancy progresses.
In low progesterone infertility, the egg gets normally fertilized but cannot implant because the progesterone levels from the corpus luteum are too low or they fall off before implantation can take place, leading to a lost pregnancy from lack of implantation.
Women who suspect they have low progesterone infertility need to have one or more progesterone levels checked during the last part of the menstrual cycle to make sure the level is in the normal range. If not, a woman can be supplemented with progesterone during the last half of her cycle in order to protect the pregnancy until such time that the pregnancy protects itself.
Another way to determine if the progesterone level is remaining high is to do basal body temperature charts throughout the menstrual cycle. The time at which the temperature is elevated should be a full 12-14 days.
If it falls off ten or less days after the time of ovulation (the day before the rise in temperature), there may be a luteal phase deficiency, which is a low progesterone infertility syndrome. A period that is shorter than 28 days could be a result of an inadequate luteal phase. In addition, a significant drop in progesterone during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy could indicate an impending miscarriage.
There are a couple of ways in which progesterone can be given in the latter half of the pregnancy. Natural progesterone suppositories can be inserted vaginally for every day after ovulation and this will provide enough progesterone to maintain the pregnancy.
Women can also use natural progesterone cream which is especially designed to rub into the skin during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in order to support any potential pregnancy. Natural progesterone cream or suppositories should only be used after one is sure that ovulation has taken place.
