"A simple treatment  a hormonecontaining vaginal gel  significantly reduces premature births among pregnant women who are at high risk because of a problem with the cervix government researchers reported Wednesday.  Many factors can lead to premature birth but Wednesdays study targets one subset the thousands of women who develop an unusually shortened cervix the gateway to the uterus. The findings may prompt more doctors to begin routinely measuring cervical length using an easy and fairly inexpensive ultrasound scan midway through pregnancy.  There will never be the solution to preterm birth cautions lead researcher Dr. Roberto Romero of the National Institutes of Health. There will be multiple solutions and we believe this is one important solution.  This treatment is not related to an injection called Makena a synthetic hormone that is controversial because of its high price tag. That drug is aimed at women whove already had one preemie and now are pregnant again. But women may have a short cervix during any pregnancy and the question was whether applying a gel form of natural progesterone  known as Prochieve  directly onto the problem area could stave off an early delivery.  It worked cutting by nearly half the rate of particularly early preterm births those before  weeks of gestation who are at particular risk for death or longterm health problems concluded Romero who led the study at  medical centers around the world.  The study was a collaboration between NIH and Prochieve maker Columbia Laboratories Inc. of Livingston N.J. which plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for the drug for women with short cervix.  This is very good news and very timely said Dr. John Larsen of George Washington University a spokesman for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who wasnt involved with the research. People have been using vaginal progesterone for a while and its not been in the highpriced stratosphere.  Although the company didnt address price vaginal progesterone already is sold to treat different conditions for roughly  for a days dose.  It makes sense that a vaginal gel would work because youre giving it right to the area you want to affect added Dr. Alan Fleischman medical director of the March of Dimes.  The cervix naturally shortens as pregnancy progresses but at issue here is one about half its usual length during the second trimester. How many women develop that The study screened  otherwise healthy pregnant women and found . percent did which Fleischman said would equate to about  U.S. women in a year.  In the new study  women with a short cervix were given either the progesterone gel or a dummy version in a tamponlike applicator to use daily starting in the second trimester. Sixteen percent of the women given the dummy gel gave birth before  weeks compared with  percent who received the drug researchers reported in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics  Gynecology.  Infants born to the progesterone users were healthier too with less respiratory distress and higher birth weights. The women experienced no significant side effects.  Treating  women with a short cervix prevented one preterm birth comparable to or better than some other wellaccepted obstetric treatments the researchers said.  A standard pregnancy ultrasound exam can give a clue about a cervical abnormality but a good measurement requires a transvaginal ultrasound exam common with standard equipment said Romero. He wants them to become routine in pregnancy  also valuable he says for reassuring women who arent at risk."