Scared I Am Miscarrying
Question
I am writing because I am 13 weeks pregnant by ultrasound and LMP (but 11 weeks by my chart). This is my 4th pregnancy, I have three live children. I have PCOS.
Last night and this morning I have been having light vaginal bleeding, pink, that shows when I wipe myself. This afternoon it has switched to a brown discharge, and looks like it is subsiding. This morning while passing stool I also passed a small blood clot (about 2cmm) that was mostly pink and a small amout of brown. I am very concerned about the possibility of a miscarriage, due to this bleeding. I remember hearing in several NFP talks that progesterone can be of use in the prevention of miscarriage, would I be an appropriate candidate for such treatment? How quickly would I need to start, or is already too late? I spoke to a nurse in my provider’s office she advised me to “wait and see” and said that they do not use progesterone routinely. I can get an appointment with an NFP MD next week.
Sincerely,
Jane
Answer
Last Updated: May 8, 2022
It is difficult to know if too late, but the opinion of the provider to “wait and see” reflects their lack of experience in the use of progesterone to maintain a pregnancy.
If a woman is running low progesterone, as often might be the case with pcos, then the ideal is to restore normal levels prior to pregnancy. Once pregnant, the woman would then be evaluated to determine if supplementation is advisable in the pregnancy, by checking her levels immediately upon confirmation of pregnancy, and at monitoring at regular intervals.
With a threatened miscarriage, and it sounds like a history of pcos and one miscarriage, it seems they would want to do an ultrasound, and depending on results, I would suggest requesting they draw a progesterone level, and while waiting for results ask to begin progesterone supplementation immediately, preferably by injection.
Sheila St. John
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