If an expectant mother is given corticosteroids before delivery, her premature baby – born as early as the 23rd week – has a significantly better chance of survival, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Specifically, the infant was much less likely to suffer from a neurological impairment by age 18 to 22 months. The decrease in risk of mortality, however, was not noted for premature babies born earlier than 23 weeks.
U.S. researchers tracked more than 10,000 babies born between 22nd and 25th week of pregnancy. Infants in this cohort had a birth weight of between 401 and 1000 grams (0.88 to 2.2 pounds). Neurodevelopment was subsequently assessed for 4,924 infants who survived to age 18 to 22 months.
The benefits of corticosteroids given to mothers of premature infants have long been known, but the study highlights “that steroids may also reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental impairment and infant death,” said Burton Rochelson, MD, chief of maternal-fetal medicine at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.
"The important lesson for caregivers is that although current protocols typically describe beginning maternal corticosteroids at 24 weeks, starting them earlier, and certainly at 23 weeks, may have effect as well,” he added.
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