Question

A 30-year-old woman at 33-weeks gestation presents to the obstetrics ward for admission with contractions every five minutes. Her cervix is 3 cm dilated. The pregnancy has otherwise been normal, and evaluation of the fetal heart rate indicates no fetal distress. Which of the following treatments has the best potential to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with preterm delivery?

Answer 1

Most obstetric interventions to reduce the morbidity and mortality of preterm birth are classified as tertiary interventions. These include regionalized perinatal care, treatment with tocolytic agents, antenatal corticosteroids, and antibiotics, and optimum timing of indicated preterm birth. Antenatal corticosteroids are often used to accelerate fetal lung maturity and reduce the risk of respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage, and neonatal death.