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Steroids boost survival, reduce brain injury for premature infants – 1
Narrator: This is NIH Health Matters. I’m Joe Balintfy. A full term pregnancy is 40 weeks. Infants born in the 22nd through the 25th week of pregnancy are the smallest, most frail category of newborns. While some survive, and reach adulthood relatively unaffected, many die soon after birth, and the rest experience some degree of lifelong disability. But Dr. Rosemary Higgins, a neonatologist at the NIH says steroids may help.
Higgins: In 1995 the NIH published a statement on antenatal steroids for mothers with threaten preterm delivery.
Narrator: More recent research shows even infants born as early as 23 weeks have improved survival if their mothers are given prenatal steroids. For details, visit www.nichd.nih.gov. Health Matters is produced by the NIH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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