Comparison of neonatal outcomes with and without the administration of betamethasone in late preterm births.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of antenatal steroid administration on neonatal outcomes in late preterm births.

METHODS

Demographic and neonatal data from women who gave birth between May 2018 and March 2021 at 34+0 -36+6  weeks of gestation were screened from the information system of the hospital. The patients were assigned to two groups: those who were and those who were not given steroids. All parameters were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The 1-minute (9 versus 8) and 5-minute (10 versus 9) Apgar scores, need for a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay (23.7% versus 27.8%), length of stay (Day) in the NICU (1.97 ± 0.24 versus 2.45 ± 0.16), rate of transient tachypnea of the newborn (3.3% versus 7.8%), respiratory distress syndrome (2.5% versus 5.2%), need for mechanical ventilation (1.2% versus 3.8%), and neonatal sepsis (1% versus 2.6%) were lower in the group that received betamethasone compared with the group that did not; the differences between the two groups were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of the present study, we believe that antenatal steroid administration would be beneficial before late preterm births occurring between 34+0 and 36+6  weeks of pregnancy, considering the significant reduction in various respiratory complications, especially in respiratory distress syndrome and the need for an NICU stay.