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Introduction: Progesterone is becoming universally accepted for preventing recurrent spontaneous preterm delivery. There is, however, poor consensus on the effective types and doses of progesterone to be used. Despite the encouraging available research, the role of oral micronized progesterone has not yet been thoroughly investigated.Material and Methods: We randomized 212 singleton pregnancies with past history of spontaneous preterm delivery at <37 weeks, into a progesterone group (receiving 100 mg oral micronized progesterone, six-hourly, starting at 14-18 weeks until 37 weeks or delivery) and an identical placebo group. The rate of spontaneous preterm delivery was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included gestational age at birth and admission to neonatal intensive care units.Results: The progesterone group delivered at a later gestational age, and needed longer tocolysis-to-delivery intervals (35.4 weeks vs. 33.9 weeks, p = 0.01, and 87 days vs. 36 days, p < 0.001, respectively). The relative risk of spontaneous preterm delivery was 0.7 (95% confidence interval 0.54-0.92, p = 0.01), and the number needed-to-treat to prevent one case of spontaneous preterm delivery was 5 (95% confidence interval 3-20). The two groups had similar rates of operative delivery and postpartum complications. Progesterone was associated with mild maternal dizziness (29.1% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.002), somnolence (41.6% vs. 19.7%, p = 0.002), and vaginal dryness (20.8% vs. 8.7%, p = 0.03), lower neonatal mortality rates (7.3% vs. 25.2%, p < 0.001), and shorter neonatal intensive care unit admissions (p = 0.008).Conclusion: Oral micronized progesterone is effective in preventing spontaneous preterm delivery. The additional advantages of oral administration, affordability, and high safety profile make it worth recommending, at least for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between intrapartum and antepartum stillbirths and various measures of obstetric care in developing and developed countries.Methods: For 51 countries, we obtained data about intrapartum and antepartum stillbirth rates and obstetric care measures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other sources. Using piecewise regression techniques, the relationships between the intrapartum and antepartum stillbirth rates and the various measures of obstetric care were determined.Results: Developed countries had lower total stillbirth rates (6.0 versus 21.3/1,000 births, p=0.0002) as well as a lower fraction of stillbirths that were intrapartum (0.16 versus 0.31, p=0.0019). Developed country antepartum stillbirth rates were 5.2 versus 14.0/1,000 in developing countries (p=0.0002). The highest antepartum stillbirth rates, all in southern Africa and Asia, ranged from 25 to 35/1,000 births. Intrapartum stillbirth rates averaged 0.9/1,000 births for developed countries compared to 7.3/1,000 in developing countries (p=0.0024), but ranged as high as 20-25/1,000 births for some countries in southern Africa and Asia. The relationship between intrapartum stillbirth and the various measures of care were generally stronger than those for antepartum stillbirth. Over the entire range of values, for each 1% increase in the percentage of women with at least 4 antenatal visits, the intrapartum stillbirth rate decreased by 0.16 per 1,000 births (p<0.0001). As cesarean section rates increased from 0 to 8%, for each 1% increase, there was a decrease of 1.61 intrapartum stillbirths per 1,000 births. There was no relationship between the cesarean section rates and intrapartum stillbirth rates in developed countries.Conclusions: The intrapartum stillbirth rate is more closely related to various measures of obstetric care than the antepartum stillbirth rate. Increases in cesarean section rates up to 8% are associated with significant improvements in intrapartum stillbirth rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]