During treatment, fertility patients may be prescribed progesterone, a natural female hormone essential for becoming pregnant. Hormone treatments may cause a woman to become pregnant, but they can also be combined with other treatments.
Progesterone Explained
Progesterone is a natural hormone produced in the ovaries that prepares the uterus for pregnancy. It is also associated with maintaining the uterus’ ability to remain pregnant. The hormone is usually prescribed for woman with an abnormal menstrual cycle or for those who have low levels of the hormone in their body. Diagnosis of either of these causes of infertility will be made by the treating physician after a physician examination and blood tests. Progesterone can be taken orally, by injection or through topical gels. Treatments will vary depending on the cause of a patient’s infertility.
Increasing the Success Rate of Progesterone Treatments
While progesterone helps many patients become pregnant, its success rate can be amplified by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This includes not smoking, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet and abstaining from alcohol and caffeine. Because your body’s hormones are affected by what you eat and your lifestyle, being as healthy as possible may increase the effectiveness of progesterone treatments.
Progesterone treatments may also be combined with other fertility treatments. Because the hormone is essential for creating a stable environment for an egg to develop into a fetus, it can be combined with procedures such as in vitro fertilization. The hormone will increase the chances of other fertility treatments being successful by preparing the uterus for pregnancy.
