Antenatal corticosteroids and incidence of neonatal respiratory distress after elective caesarean section in late preterm and term neonates

INTRODUCTIONBirth by elective caesarean section in late preterm and early term newborn increases the risk of respiratory distress. Administration of antenatal corticosteroids in these cases could reduce the respiratory distress and its severity. OBJECTIVESTo determine the influence of antenatal corticosteroids use in elective caesarean sections in the respiratory distress of the newborn from 35+0 to 38+6 weeks of gestational age. PATIENTS AND METHODSRetrospective analytical study of caesarean sections from 35+0 to 38+6 gestational age was conducted in a tertiary hospital from January 2013 to April 2017. Data were collected from medical records of pregnant women and newborns after an implementation of new protocol of betamethasone administration to these elective caesarean sections. Analysis was performed on 2newborn subgroups: preterm newborn (PTN) 35-36 gestational age and term (TN) 37-38 weeks. RESULTSA total of 208 elective caesarean sections were performed in the study period. Corticosteroids were administered in 97 (46.6%) of cases. The percentage of respiratory distress was higher in the group of preterm newborn compared to term newborn (29% vs. 8.8%, P