Umbilical cord plasma estradiol levels in relation to complications of pregnancy and newborn and to cortisol levels.

The average estradiol concentrations in umbilical cord plasma from newborns which developed respiratory distress with or without hyaline membrane disease (RDS) were lower by 25% than in controls. Complication of pregnancy by maternal diabetes or pruritus has been associated with abnormalities in estrogen concentrations in the mother, but cord plasma estradiol levels in these cases were essentially normal. Because of reports that treatment of the mother before delivery with estrogens or glucocorticoids results in a decreased incidence of RDS in newborns the relationship between endogenous estradiol and cortisol levels in cord plasm was investigated. There was no significant correlation between the concentrations of these steroids in 65 specimens; the cortisol levels associated with two cases of severe RDS were low.