Prenatal steroids lower risk of respiratory illness in late preterm infants

Prenatal steroid therapy reduces the chance of respiratory complications among infants born at 34-36 weeks, so-called “late” preterm infants, according to a study by a NIH research network. Steroids are a standard treatment for women likely to deliver before 34 weeks of pregnancy because these drugs are known to reduce respiratory and other complications, as well as death, among infants born early preterm. Now, researchers have found that steroids also reduce the occurrence of serious respiratory complications in late preterm infants.