Potential risks of antenatal steroids highlighted in new study
Two new studies published by The BMJ recently examine the potential health risks for infants of giving steroid drugs to women who are at risk of giving birth early.
Corticosteroids are known to help increase the chance of a baby born early surviving and having fewer health problems. Ideally, they should be given before 34 weeks of pregnancy and within approximately one week of birth. But their effects on later childhood health are less well understood, particularly when administration is “mistimed” and infants are born at term.
Two studies set out to fill this knowledge gap.
The first is based on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan for nearly 2 million children born between 2008 and 2019. It shows that exposure to antenatal corticosteroids compared with no exposure is associated with an increased risk of serious infection, including sepsis and pneumonia, during the first 12 months of life.
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