My name is Rachel Crawford and I am pregnant with my fourth child (third pregnancy).  A year and a half ago my identical twins Aubrey and Ellie were born prematurely (at 24 weeks)  and lived for only a few weeks.  My girls were my second pregnancy, conceived naturally, and why I went into premature labor is unknown.  It was catagorized as premature rupture of membrane for unknown reasons. Before my girls I had a healthy, full term, little boy without a single complication. Now that I am pregnant again (with just one) my doctor wants me to go on progesterone shots to help prevent preterm labor.  I was wondering if you know anything about progesterone shots?  I have my concerns as there is little info on long term effects of these shots (the progesterone is synthetic) on the mom and baby.  I also wonder how at risk I am of going into preterm labor as this baby is not twins. I do not want to be paranoid but I also do not want to be ignorant.  Any information you could provide would be much appreciated so I can make the best decision possible for my baby and for myself. 

Henci sent me this article in response to my question about progesterone injections:

http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?s=progesterone

I would add, too, that preterm birth with twins is much more common than preterm birth with a singleton. That means the reasons why women go into preterm labor with twins might be different from those with a singleton and thus wouldn't apply to a singleton pregnancy.

-- Henci