I was reading some stuff about causes of early miscarriage and one of the theories is around not having enough progesterone to sustain the pregnancy. I was also reading about the length of the leutal phase and how that can indicate a problem but i don't really get what the leutal phase is or how you work out how long it is. Anyone else know anything about this?

The luteal phase is the time from the day after you ovulate (1 DPO) until the day before AF starts. The typical length is 14 days (hence why they call it the 2WW), but it can be as short as 10 days and still be considered normal. Anything less than 10 days is considered to be a Luteal Phase Defect (LPD) making it difficult to conceive because the egg doesn't have enough time to implant before the lining starts to shed.

LPD can be treated OTC with Vitamin B6 or medically with Clomid or progesterone. Some ladies even use progesterone cream sold over the counter for menopasaul women, but I would urge caution before using as it has the potential to really mess up your cycle. Low progesterone should not be assumed, but diagnosed by your doctor.

Here is an article on LPD that gives greater detail:

http://www.babyhopes.com/articles/lu...se-defect.html

Hope that helps.

Jo - check out our sub-forum (at the top of the ttc forum screen) on B6 in 'Products for ttc.' Both Scotchbonnet and I used B6 last month. I am not sure if I normally have a short luteal phase, but my cycle before this one was 12 days (I haven't charted before) and I thought this was slightly on the short side and I occasionally get spotting a few days before AF, so I thought I would try B6.

Im one of those with a shorter then average LP. i have a 12 day one, no idea if its the cause of any probs but since you can be as short as 10 days then hopefully not.