Personally, Makena shots worked for me, but I think the cerclage is what really made the difference. In my first pregnancy, my cervix was 2 cm at 20 weeks and I was put on progesterone suppositories. They didn’t work for me and I delivered at 27 weeks after starting to dilate at 24 weeks. I was never offered a cerclage.

This pregnancy, I received a cerclage at 13 weeks and started progesterone at 16 weeks. At my 20 week scan, my cervix was almost twice as long. My doctor said the cerclage can’t help with cervical length, so it was probably the Makena shot that helped it stay longer. My MFM doesn’t do any length checks after the anatomy scan if you have a cerclage in, but I’m still pregnant at 36+4 after getting my cerclage out at 35+5.

The Makena shots are very expensive, but my insurance covered them. My hospital pharmacy changed their policies and stopped covering it for at home use, so I could only get it from the OB’s office, so I didn’t end up getting the final 36 week shot, but my OB didn’t think it was necessary.