A new study from the University of Birmingham has revealed that taking progesterone supplements may not completely prevent miscarriages among pregnant women who have history of multiple miscarriages.

According to the United Press International, the experiment was conducted for five years among 826 women with unexplained miscarriages.

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"Those who received progesterone supplements in early pregnancy were no less likely to miscarry than those who received a placebo," according to the United Press International.

The findings of the study, which was also published in The New England Journal of Medicine, holds true regardless of pregnancy history, age, medical history and ethnicity.

"We had hoped, like many people, that this research would confirm progesterone as an effective treatment," said Professor Arri Coomarasamy, lead author of study. "Though disappointing, it does address a question that has remained unanswered since progesterone was first proposed as a treatment back in 1953. Fortunately, there are a number of other positives that can take from the trial as a whole."

The 826 subjects of the study were selected from thirty-six locations in Great Britain and nine in Netherlands.  The progesterone supplements were passed into the subjects in the form of vaginal suppositories. Both the attending doctors and patients had no idea whether the patients have taken the progesterone supplements or not.

"Nearly two-thirds of the participants carried to full term and had their babies, with no significant difference between the treatment group (65.8% live birth rate) and the placebo group (63.3% live birth rate)," Medical News Today elaborated about the study's findings.

Progesterone is a sex hormone that is deemed by many as an important hormone to have successful pregnancy. Progesterone supplements have been taken by many women for more than 60 years already to prevent miscarriages especially during the first trimester of the pregnancy.

TagsProgesterone supplements, Progesterone supplements Miscarriage, Progesterone