Q: My wife saw some blood spots in her 8th week of pregnancy. The sonograghy shows that everything is normal but chorionic reaction was as - Minimal choriodecidual separation noted. The doctor prescribed four injections of Susten 100 during one month i.e. every week. Blood spots disappeared after two days and she has taken two injections. We would like to know if it is needed to have two other injections prescribed due to the fact that this drug has been mentioned to be dangerous for the baby.

A:Susten is the brand name of a hormone called progesterone. In advanced, western countries with effective regulatory system it is approved for use in only in those cases where there is proven, documented deficiency of progesterone and in some selected cases of assisted reproductive procedures (such as IVF, GIFT etc) apart from use in post-menopausal women. For example, in UK the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), has allowed the use of progesterone in (a) dysfunctional uterine bleeding, (b) Maintenance of early pregnancy only in cases of documented history of repeated miscarriages due to luteal phase defect and (c) in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or GIFT in infertile women . In India some drug manufacturers are aggressively promoting progesterones for Maintenance of early pregnancy by removing the condition i.e. only in cases of documented history of repeated miscarriages due to luteal phase defect. One company is promoting it for helping pregnancy in normal cases, as if it is a vitamin supplement! Curiously, one of the side effects of Susten (progesterone) is spotting! The only medicine that is indicated in such cases is hCG (human Chorionic Gonadotrophin) sold under the brand name of Profasi.