If you wonder whether you should take steroids during preterm labor, the answer is yes! You can talk to your doctor to get more information about steroids and its dose.
What is preterm labor?
Preterm labor occurs when regular contractions start kicking in after week 20 and before week 37 of pregnancy.🤰 Preterm birth can result in premature development of some tissues such as lungs, heart💗, brain and other body systems of your baby. The doctor often gives you medications to prolong your pregnancy days and allows all these organs to be fully mature before your baby’s arrival.👩⚕️
Steroids for preterm labor
💉Benefits of steroids
Steroids treatment reduces the risk of respiratory distress syndrome, bleeding in the brain, and systemic infection.😃 It also prevents life-threatening complications such as necrotizing enterocolitis.
💉Risks of steroids
Corticosteroids are relatively safe for you in the long term.😃 However, a study indicated a link between corticosteroid treatment with small size at birth and neurodevelopmental problems, but the research is ongoing. A single dose of steroid can also increase blood pressure🩸 to levels that require intake of insulin for a little while even though you don’t have diabetes.
If steroids are combined with other medications💊 such as tocolytics, you are prone to pulmonary edema, a condition in which fluids build up in your lungs. You need to be scrutinized if you receive this combination.🕵️
Who should and should not take steroids?
💉Who should take steroids?
If you’re between week 24 and 34 of pregnancy, you are recommended to take a single course of corticosteroids.💉 The course is given in two injections, 24 hours apart.
If you’re between week 34 and 37 of pregnancy, at risk of preterm labor within 7 days and have not received steroids before, you are given a single course. If your last treatment was more than 14 days ago and you’re likely to deliver within 7 days, you are given one more injection as a rescue dose.💉
💉Who should not take steroids?
If you have diabetes, you are advised not to be given steroids since steroids combined with other medications can be more problematic.🙅♀️ You need to be monitored carefully for 3 to 4 days after receiving steroids. If you have infections in the womb, you also shouldn’t receive steroids.🙅♀️