Women often experience vaginal bleeding or pain during the initial stages (first trimester) of pregnancy. Nearly 30 percent of women experience these problems. Although most of them are harmless, sometimes they may be signs of many pregnancy complications like miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
However, very few tests are available to accurately predict the risks. Solving this problem, researchers have found the effectiveness of a progesterone test in discriminating between a viable and non-viable pregnancy.
Progesterone is a hormone produced in the ovaries that helps the womb in implanting a fertilized egg and the uterine lining in maintaining the pregnancy.
Experts normally recommend women experiencing trouble in getting pregnant or having a miscarriage, stillbirth or unusual bleeding to check their progesterone levels six to eight days after ovulation period.
Progesterone levels are found 10 times higher in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women. According to fertility authority, low levels of progesterone are associated with fetal death, abortion and toxemia of pregnancy.
Previous studies have provided conflicting results about the effectiveness of a single progesterone measurement in predicting the risks during early stages of pregnancy.
To re-confirm the effectiveness, Dutch and UK researchers looked at 26 studies, including 9,436 pregnant women - seven dealt with bleeding and ultrasound assessment and 19 examined only pain and bleeding problems of women.
A comparison of the studies showed a single low progesterone measurement along with an ultrasound in early pregnancy providing more accurate details about viable or non-viable pregnancy than the ultrasound alone.
However, progesterone test without ultrasound was found less accurate. The progesterone test was most accurate when performed in conjunction with a transvaginal ultrasound.
But the progesterone test could not distinguish between women who had ectopic pregnancies (outside the uterus) and those who had miscarriages or normal pregnancies, and so should not be used for this purpose.
Results of the study have been published in the British Medical Journal.
