The association between antenatal corticosteroids exposure and postnatal growth in infants born between 23 and 29 weeks of gestation

To assess the association between antenatal corticosteroids exposure and postnatal growth in infants born at 23–29 weeks’ gestation.

This retrospective study used data from the Pediatrix Clinical Data Warehouse. Maternal-infant dyads from 2018 to 2020 were included. Inverse propensity weighting (IPW) was applied to balance pre-treatment confounders. Primary outcomes included postnatal weight, length, and head circumference growth trajectory percentiles.

The unadjusted cohort consisted of 11,912 dyads. After IPW adjustment, there were 23,231 dyads. Exposed infants showed higher postnatal trajectory percentiles for weight (by 3.4%), length (by 1.8%), and head circumference (by 2.5%) when compared to non-exposed infants. The positive association between antenatal corticosteroids and postnatal growth was only observed in infants not exposed to preeclampsia/eclampsia/HELLP syndrome or without fetal growth restriction.

Antenatal corticosteroids exposure is associated with better postnatal growth. The study is limited by its retrospective nature.