Abstract
Global efforts to reduce neonatal mortality and lifelong disability demand universal action for preterm birth. Antenatal corticosteroid therapy is strongly recommended by WHO to improve preterm birth outcome. To assess the effect of antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) on the morbidity and mortality in preterm (PT) babies. This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing 252 randomly selected medical records of preterm infants at Aljala Maternity Hospital at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the period from January 1st, 2016 to December 31th 2017. Major congenital anomalies and extreme preterm newborns were excluded from the study. The preterm gestational age (GA) enrolled in the study was from 29 0/7 to 36 6/7 weeks gestation. The study sample was divided into two groups; preterm babies who received ACS and preterm babies who did not receive ACS. The data analyzed were; sex, gestational age, Mode of Delivery (MOD), Apgar score: 1st and 5th minute, cord ABG, length of stay, prematurity complications, and outcome. Collected data coded and IBM SPSS Statistics software version 22 was used for analysis. The study sample was divided into two groups 147 (58.3%) of the preterm infants in the ACS group and 105(41.7%) of the preterm infants in the no-ACS. The percentage of babies with normal Apgar in the 1st min was 73.5% and 63.8% respectively. The study revealed a higher rate of severely low 1 minute Apgar (P=0.003) and a higher rate of severe acidosis in the no-ACS (P=0.019). Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) complicated a lower rate 21.1% and it was less severe in preterm babies of the ACS group(P=0.018), also a lower rate of Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) in the ACS patients (0.7%) than in the no-ACS group (3.8%). Regarding the length of stay; 8.8% of ACS patients admitted for more than 28 days compared with 14.3% of the no-ACS patients (P =0.129). A higher rate of death before discharge 27.6% in the no-ACS group found versus 8.2% in the ACS group (P =0.001). The prematurity complication and mortality are less in babies who received ACS. Antenatal corticosteroids should be considered routine for preterm delivery.