Learn what progesterone does in pregnancy and beyond. Explore progesterone levels, natural vs synthetic, and common side effects.

What is progesterone?

When it comes to pregnancy, many women hear about progesterone but aren’t always clear on what this hormone actually does or why it matters so much. If you’ve ever wondered what is progesterone, how it supports both mother and baby, and what happens when progesterone levels shift, you’re not alone.

Pauline Hoang, ND, an Ann Arbor Holistic Health practitioner, explains, “It keeps the pregnancy viable in the case that a woman is deficient in progesterone.”

In other words, progesterone plays a stabilizing role in early pregnancy, helping the body maintain the pregnancy until the placenta is strong enough to take over hormone production.

For women exploring support options, the distinction between natural progesterone and synthetic forms matters. Pauline Hoang, ND shares, “For natural progesterone, we’re deriving it from plant sources. Synthetic progesterone is made differently, so the structure is different.”

This difference in structure is one reason women may respond differently to each form. As Pauline notes, “When a woman takes it orally, vaginally, or topically, it does different things in the body. It doesn’t mimic exactly what natural progesterone does. Most women experience side effects from taking synthetic progesterone.”

These side effects of progesterone, such as mood changes, bloating, or headaches, are much more common with synthetic versions, making natural options more appealing for some women.

Beyond Pregnancy: The Ongoing Role of Progesterone

Progesterone’s role doesn’t stop at pregnancy. In fact, many women want to know what is progesterone used for outside of this stage of life. Pauline explains, “In perimenopause, women can benefit from progesterone because during early perimenopause, women start experiencing irregular cycles, heavier cramping, or heavier flow. That signifies progesterone is the hormone that falls first.”

This decline affects the delicate balance between estrogen and progesterone. Pauline continues, “When progesterone falls in relation to estrogen, estrogen becomes more dominant. That’s when women experience cramping, heavier cycles, irregular bleeding.”

Learning how to increase progesterone naturally through lifestyle strategies, nutrient support, or guided supplementation can help restore this balance and provide relief. As Pauline adds, “When women implement progesterone earlier in their perimenopausal journey, it can stabilize them and give them a sense of normalcy.”

FAQs About Progesterone

• What does progesterone do? 

• It supports pregnancy, balances estrogen, and regulates cycles.

• Does progesterone cause weight gain? 

• Some women notice shifts in weight, often tied to synthetic forms or changes in hormone balance.

• Why are progesterone levels important? 

• They influence fertility, pregnancy stability, and overall hormone health.

Progesterone is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to women’s health, pregnancy, and hormonal balance. Understanding the connection between estrogen and progesterone can make all the difference in how women feel during key life transitions.

If you’re curious to keep learning, stay with us. Up next, Sterling Morgan, shares their perspective in the article below, offering another layer of insight into hormones and women’s health.

By: Sterling Morgan

What if there was a natural substance that when used by a pregnant woman could:

• Protect the fetus from miscarriage

• Increase the feeling of well being of the mother

• Increase the potential IQ of the child, and

• Produce calmer, less colicky babies!  

That substance exists, and it is natural progesterone. We are not speaking about a synthetic drug like Provera, but rather one made from the extract of the Wild Mexican Yam, which precisely duplicates the chemical structure of natural progesterone as produced by the human body.

Ask your doctor about progesterone and pregnancy, and he or she will probably tell you that the female produces up to 10 times more endogenous progesterone while pregnant.

If you are asking about taking progesterone during pregnancy, you will most likely be told that it can be harmful to the fetus. However, the doctor is talking about synthetic progesterone, called “progestins” or “progestogens”, not the natural substance. Synthetic progestins are manufactured in the lab, and while they perform some of the functions of the natural type, they also block other important biological functions, such as the body’s own production of progesterone.

Since a developing fetus actually requires natural progesterone for it’s growth and well being, which is why the body produces much more during pregnancy, it is easy to see why anything which lessens the natural substance could be harmful. Since the natural version is rather inexpensive and unpatentable, drug companies make the synthetic kind and then ask users to live with the many side effects.

What the doctor probably won’t know is that over 25 years ago, a British doctor named Katerina Dalton researched the supplemental use of natural progesterone for pregnancy. She found that the children of mothers treated with it actually had faster development of motor skills, higher intelligence, graduated from college more often. They were calmer, better adjusted babies than the babies whose mothers did not take it.

In an article published in 1968 in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Dalton studied 60 children at the age of one year. Twenty­nine of these were born to mothers who used supplemental natural progesterone during pregnancy. The mothers of the other 31 did not use any. Over 90% of the “progesterone” children were standing by age one, compared to only 60% of the “non­progesterone” children. Also at age one, over 60% of the “progesterone” children were walking, compared to about 35% of the “non­progesterone” children.

Even more significantly, Dalton followed a different group of 79 children and related their school grades to whether their mothers had taken natural progesterone during pregnancy. She used a scale from 0 to 100% to measure their scholastic achievement in various subjects at school. This scale did not reflect actual grades received, but was an arbitrary method of measuring success.

In all cases, “progesterone” children did better than the “non­progesterone” children, but in some cases the results were astounding! She also discovered that the best results occurred when the progesterone was started before the 16th week of pregnancy. Math skills were three times as high (60% to 20%) in progesterone children, and this was only for those whose mothers took it before the 16th week. For mothers who took it after the 16th week, the scores were 30%, still a 50% improvement over non­progesterone children.

Progesterone children scored much higher than non­progesterone in verbal reasoning skills, academic subjects, and significantly better in physical education and English. In fact, the only skill where non­progesterone children scored almost as high as the progesterone children was in crafts.

Finally, children whose mothers used natural progesterone were about seven times more likely to gain entrance to a university than their non­progesterone counterparts. A possible reason for the apparent increase in IQ and academic performance seems to be natural progesterone’s ability to retain glucose in the blood stream, thus elevating it. Since the fetus’ developing brain needs all the glucose it can get, natural progesterone allows more to reach it, and it may develop more than the brain of a baby whose mother did not take supplemental natural progesterone.

It is also thought that the euphoria and general well being experienced by many women during various portions of their pregnancy is due to the elevated output of natural progesterone. This hormone could be called the “good hormone” because it has many benefits to health for women. Some of these effects are:

* Promoting synthesis of adrenal corticosteroids, the natural hormones which are essential to combat stress

• Lowering of cholesterol in blood

• Lowering of insulin secretion

• Lowering histamine release

• Improving kidney function

• Benefiting the immune system by promotion of phagocytosis and/or antibody production

• Relief of vascular spasms  

COPYRIGHT and DISCLAIMER © 1998 ­2006 www.tidesoflife.com All rights reserved.

The author concludes by recommending a specific progesterone cream and dosage method, but much of that information is now considered out-of-date. At Ann Arbor Holistic Health, we take a more comprehensive approach. While progesterone can be an important piece of the puzzle for perimenopausal and menopausal women, it’s never viewed in isolation. Our practitioners look at the full hormonal landscape, like how estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, thyroid hormones, and even insulin interact to guide each woman toward balance. Form and delivery are always individualized, and decisions are made after careful lab evaluation and review of symptoms. Hormone support works best when it’s part of a broader plan that includes nutrition, stress management, and liver detoxification, which help the body use hormones efficiently and maintain long-term vitality.

Ready to Feel Like Yourself Again?

If low progesterone has left you feeling off, whether it’s heavy cycles, mood swings, or fertility challenges, there are answers. Imagine lighter, more predictable cycles, steady moods, and a sense of balance returning to your life.

Book your free 1-on-1 consultation with Ann Arbor Holistic Health today. Together, we’ll uncover what your body needs so you can move forward with confidence.