Decreased abortions in HMG-induced pregnancies with prophylactic progesterone therapy.

A study was designed to see if progesterone support of the luteal phase could reduce the increased incidence of spontaneous abortions seen in HMG-induced pregnancies. Fifty milligrams per day of progesterone suppositories beginning on the third day of the temperature rise or the demonstration of ovum release by ultrasound was employed. The incidence of spontaneous abortions in the untreated control group was 28% (28 of 100) as compared to 16% (21 of 130) of the progesterone-supported patients. The decrease in abortions cannot be attributed to losses of multiple gestations since there were larger numbers of multiples in the progesterone-supported group (1.3 babies per patient) versus the controls (1.2 babies per patient).