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Does antenatal corticosteroid therapy affect birth weight and head circumference?

April 26, 2017affect antenatal birth circumference corticosteroid Head National PubMed therapy weight

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Does antenatal corticosteroid therapy affect birth weight and head circumference?

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OBJECTIVE: To determine whether antenatal corticosteroid use is associated with weight and head circumference at birth. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of nonanomalous newborns admitted to 100 neonatal intensive care units from 23 to 34 6/7 weeks of gestation using multivariable analysis of variance that controlled for several potentially confounding variables. RESULTS: There were 14,338 cases of birth weight and 13,670 for head circumference available for analysis. Independent variables included maternal age, race, nulliparity, poor prenatal care, multiple gestation, obstetric complications, alcohol, smoking, illicit drugs, presentation, gestational age at birth, and method of delivery. The mean (+/-SD) birth weight was 1671 +/- 574 g and head circumference was 289 +/- 33 mm. The multivariable effect of antenatal corticosteroid on birth weight (mean +/- SE) was -63 +/- 5.7 g and on head circumference was -3.1 +/- 0.4 mm. Even after controlling for birth weight, a signif