New Weapon Against Prematurity

Study: Hormone Injections May Reduce Premature Birth Risks

(CBS)  Medical experts say they've discovered a dramatic new solution to the steady two-decade rise in premature births — an increase of nearly 30 percent.

The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay explains that obstetricians found using a progesterone-like hormone may help prevent thousands of premature births every year. Up to 9 percent of babies in this country are born prematurely and many suffer medical and developmental problems as a result.

Progesterone is a hormone that is naturally produced by the ovaries. It softens the uterus lining into a spongy bed that holds a fertilized egg.

Dr. Senay says that although most premature babies make it out of the hospital, it's a tough road for them. Premature babies face a host of medical problems in the first few days of life and as well as years later.

Depending on how early the babies are born, they can face weeks or months in intensive care. They are at risk for a host of disabilities including cerebral palsy, hearing and vision problems and learning disabilities.

Dr. Senay says anything that can be done to keep babies in the womb for as long as possible is desperately needed, since nearly half of all neurological problems in children are related to premature birth. That is why the new finding is so important.

The study, says Dr. Senay, is so dramatic that obstetricians stopped the trial early because they felt they ethically had to treat all the mothers. The study had two groups of high-risk women (women who had experienced premature births in previous pregnancies) and had some of them receive a weekly injection of the hormone that is a close relative of progesterone. Other women received only a placebo shot. The shots began during the 16th to 18th week.

Researchers found that premature births (births before the 37th week of pregnancy) were decreased 34 percent in women who had the progesterone-like hormone. And, pre-term births (before the 32nd week) were decreased by 42 percent.

Dr. Senay says the particular form of progesterone is widely available, and doctors will probably begin to use it in the women who are at high risk.

More than 30 years ago, a similar smaller study found that progesterone could reduce premature births, but the doctors lost funding before they could conduct a larger study to confirm the results.

Dr. Senay says the side effects were minor and were related to receiving an injection. Researchers said there were no side effects in babies. The shots are given once a week for the duration of the pregnancy.

However, Dr. Senay notes, progesterone may not work for all women who have had premature babies because there are multiple causes for it.