| Summary: | Antenatal corticosteroid administration is one of the most effective methods to improve perinatal outcomes. It reduces the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates. Antenatal corticosteroids are also effective in treating maternal hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count syndrome. However, complications in neonates and mothers may occur when antenatal corticosteroids are given, including infection, sepsis and maternal pulmonary edema. The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference recommends treatment regimens of either two 12 mg doses of betamethasone given intramuscularly 24 hours apart or four 6 mg doses of dexamethasone given intramuscularly 12 hours apart between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation in pregnancies at risk for preterm delivery. The benefits are most apparent when the corticosteroids are administered between 24 hours and 7 days before delivery. In principle, antenatal steroid therapy should not be routinely repeated in patients with preterm labor. For preterm premature rupture of membranes at less than 30–32 weeks of gestation, antenatal corticosteroids are also suggested as long as there is no evidence of infection.
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