BMJ  2005;331 (24 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7518.0-b

Antenatal steroids may have no long term side effects

Another study looks at the long term effects of antenatal exposure to betamethasone and finds that a single course does not alter psychological functioning in adult life. Dalziel and colleagues (p 665) followed up 192 babies of mothers in the Auckland, New Zealand steroid trial conducted in the early 1970s. An editorial by Steer (p645), however, warns that although the immediate benefits of antenatal steroids in reducing respiratory distress are clear, the long term effects of repeated courses continue to be debated.

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