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Association of antenatal steroid administration with neonatal morbidities among late preterm multiple gestation infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 45, pages 24–29 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

There is limited evidence on the efficacy of antenatal steroids (ANS) among women with multiple gestations at risk of late preterm delivery.

Study design

This retrospective study included multiple gestation, late preterm infants (340/7–366/7 weeks’ gestational age), born between January 2013 and December 2022. The primary outcome was composite respiratory outcome, defined as the need for respiratory support by 72 hours of age. Logistic and linear regressions were performed to compare the primary and secondary outcomes with and without exposure to any ANS, adjusted for gestational age, sex of infant, histologic chorioamnionitis, and intrauterine growth restriction.

Results

The composite respiratory outcome was significantly lower in any ANS group compared to no ANS group (28.6% vs. 33.7%) [adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% CI, 0.33–0.75, p < 0.001].

Conclusion

In late preterm multiple gestation infants, any ANS exposure was associated with lower risk of composite respiratory outcome.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center, Waterloo, IA, 50702, USA

    Pradeep Kumar Velumula

  2. Hutzel Women’s Hospital, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Pradeep Kumar Velumula, Praveen Kumar Boddu, Luna Khanal, Sanket Jani, Nithi Fernandes, Monika Bajaj & Sanjay Chawla

  3. Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Pradeep Kumar Velumula, Praveen Kumar Boddu, Luna Khanal, Sanket Jani, Nithi Fernandes, Monika Bajaj & Sanjay Chawla

  4. Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

    Sanket Jani, Nithi Fernandes, Ronald Thomas, Monika Bajaj & Sanjay Chawla

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  1. Pradeep Kumar Velumula
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  8. Sanjay Chawla
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Contributions

Pradeep Kumar Velumula: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing original draft; Praveen Kumar Boddu: methodology, investigation, writing—review and editing; Luna Khanal: investigation, writing—review and editing; Sanket Jani: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing; Nithi Fernandes: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing; Ronald Thomas: analysis, writing—review and editing; Monika Bajaj: analysis, writing—review and editing; Sanjay Chawla: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing, supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pradeep Kumar Velumula.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained from Central Michigan University before initiation of the study, (IRB number: 2021-1527). The requirement of informed consent was waived, and all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

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Velumula, P.K., Boddu, P.K., Khanal, L. et al. Association of antenatal steroid administration with neonatal morbidities among late preterm multiple gestation infants. J Perinatol 45, 24–29 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02130-y

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