The Role that Progesterone Plays in Fertility

Balanced hormones are essential to fertility health, and maintaining a healthy, full term pregnancy. One of the key hormones involved is Progesterone. Progesterone production occurs in the second half of the menstrual cycle (after ovulation), and is triggered by Luteinizing Hormone. LH stimulates the corpus luteum (the remnant egg sac) in the ovary to produce progesterone.

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What does Progesterone do?

Progesterone’s main job is to prepare the body for pregnancy. It triggers the uterine lining to become nice and thick, in preparation for a newly fertilized egg. It also prohibits the muscle contractions in the uterus that would cause the body to reject an egg. While the body is producing high levels of progesterone, the body will not ovulate.

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If you do not become pregnant, the corpus luteum breaks down, lowering the progesterone levels in the body. This change sparks menstruation. If you do conceive, progesterone continues to stimulate the body to provide the blood vessels in the endometrium that will feed the growing baby. Progesterone maintains the lining of the uterus which makes it possible for a fertilized egg to attach and survive.

Progesterone is so important for the maintenance of a healthy pregnancy that the placenta actually begins to make progesterone itself. Once the placenta develops, it begins to secrete progesterone to support the corpus luteum. This causes the levels to remain elevated throughout pregnancy, so the body does not produce more eggs. It also helps prepare the breasts for milk production.

But wait, there’s more!

Progesterone also:

• supports the developing embryo
• makes cervical mucous accessible by sperm
• prevents immune rejection of the developing baby
• allows for full development of the fetus through pregnancy
• helps the body use fat for energy during pregnancy
• prevents secondary sexual development
• increases libido around ovulation
• activates osteoblasts to increase new bone formation
• protects against endometrial, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer
• normalizes blood clotting

Progesterone Deficient VS Estrogen Dominant

One of the main reasons women are progesterone deficient is because they have too much estrogen in the body. What does this look like?

Symptoms of Progesterone Deficiency

• recurrent early miscarriage
• no period
• not ovulating
• endometriosis
• PCOS
• PMS
• cramps during menses
• blood clotting
• swollen breasts
• fibrocystic breasts
• loss of libido
• obesity
• depression
• water retention
• low thyroid
• facial hair
• hot flashes
• night sweats
• vaginal dryness
• foggy thinking
• memory lapse
• incontinence
• tearful
• sleep disturbances
• heart palpitations
• bone loss

Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance

• allergy symptoms like asthma and hives
• breast cancer
• breast tenderness
• decreased sex drive
• depression with agitation and/or anxiety
• dry eyes
• early onset of menstruation
• fat gain, usually around the middles
• fatigue
• sluggish metabolism
• foggy thinking
• hair loss
• headaches
• increased blood clotting
• fertility issues
• irregular periods
• insomnia
• PMS
• polycystic ovaries

Now we know the symptoms of both Progesterone Deficiency and Estrogen Dominance, but how is one or the other actually diagnosed? Thankfully, you have a few options!

Hormone Testing

My favorite method to test hormones is through saliva. This is the comprehensive female hormone panel I recommend for all women. This is the most comprehensive, accurate way of testing sex steroid and adrenal hormones in my opinion. The test is done at home, during your luteal phase.

Other at-home ways of learning about your hormones include charting your menstrual cycle to determine the length of your luteal phase (a short luteal phase can indicate low progesterone levels) and tracking your basal body temperature (consistently low BBT may indicate low progesterone production).

Basal Body Temperature Charting (BBT)
Basal Body Temperature charting can help to determine the availability of progesterone in the luteal phase. There will be a slight, steady rise in body temperature after ovulation has occurred and progesterone has increased. The body’s resting temperature increases four-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit or two-tenths of a degree Centigrade under the influence of progesterone at ovulation. An irregular or consistently low BBT may indicate low progesterone and luteal phase defect.

Length of luteal phase
If the date of ovulation is fewer than 11 days before your period, this could suggest luteal phase defects. You can detect ovulation using BBT charting or by using ovulation predictor kits (my favorite is Clear Blue Advanced Digital).

How to Naturally Support Progesterone

There are many ways to naturally support progesterone production!

The easiest, and potentially the most important one, is to limit your exposure to xenoestrogens. What exactly are xenoestrogens? They are substances not naturally found in nature that have hormonal effects on the body. They have an estrogenic effect on both the male and female bodies. Because estrogen and progesterone work like a seesaw, as one goes up the other goes down, so increased estrogen exposure causes progesterone deficiency. These toxic substances are easily absorbed through the skin and build up in the body over time.

So what do xenohormones look like in our daily lives? Here’s what you need to avoid:

• non-organic meat from conventionally raised livestock
• farm-raised fish
• body care products containing chemicals like parabens and sulfates
• car exhaust
• plastics
• non-organic fruits and vegetables (sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides)
• canned foods (contain bisphenol A, aka BPA)
• solvents and adhesives
• emulsifiers found in soaps and cosmetics
• PCD’s from industrial waste

My second recommendation for naturally supporting your progesterone is to use bioidentical progesterone oil.

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This essential fertility course is for anyone who is struggling to get pregnant, or thinking about getting pregnant soon. The course covers allllll the fertility topics: egg quality, ovarian reserve, miscarriage, ovulation, cycle tracking, low progesterone, IVF, prepping for egg retrieval + embryo transfer, thyroid health, toxins, and much more. It covers EVERYTHING you need to know and you can move through the modules at your own pace.

The Fertility Code will give you the tools, protocols, tests, supplements, and more to optimize your fertility health, nourish your body, and give it what it needs to make a baby, and ensure a healthy full-term pregnancy.  It has helped hundreds of women get pregnant, and stay pregnant, and it can help you too.

And if you want to get a baseline of your fertility health before getting started, take my quiz! After you complete it, you’ll receive a detailed report from me explaining your results.

If you want more personalized guidance and support, or want to have a more in-depth conversation about your specific concerns, feel free to schedule a 1:1 consultation. I offer 1:1 consultations through the convenience of video conferencing for women and couples with various fertility & hormonal health concerns.

About Sarah Jane Sandy

Sarah Jane Sandy is a certified nutrition therapist, and a fertility and women’s health expert. She has helped hundreds of women increase their fertility naturally and go on to have healthy full-term pregnancies. Learn more about her own fertility journey here. To send Sarah a message, complete her Contact Form.