My first born was early, 31 weeks, and for this reason I've been added to the high risk pregnancy list and asked to take progesterone daily and get my cervix checked every two weeks.
My waters started leaking for my first, so I went to get it checked and DC was born two days after, 31 weeks, naturally and great. Lucky.
No one checked why this happened and there was no follow up. I was overwhelmed with everything and I didn't insist on understanding the reason for the early labour. So no one knows.
Now that I'm pregnant with my second 14 weeks, I've been added to the high risk list and asked to take progesterone daily as well as go in get my cervix checked every other week. No one has told me why, I have just been told this is done automatically for women who had a first preterm birth. Until now the pregnancy is good and all results are good too.
I'm all for protecting my unborn child, however I'm not a big medicine taker, especially without a diagnosis. And not a fan (who is) of being checked vaginally every two weeks for months.
My findings for the automatic progesterone and cervix checks are that progesterone helps with keeping the uterus strong and used for women with short cervix. And cervix checks are to measure the length to make sure there's no early labour.
My logic would be check the cervix and if any concern follow up and a blood test for measuring progesterone levels (not sure it's possible)?
I am not saying I want to go against the doctors prescription but want to have a better understanding.
Any similar experiences and advice on the matter would be great to hear. Also wondering if unexplained preterm for a first birth means preterm for the second. Thanks