Steroid Injection Before Preterm Birth Poses Mental and Emotional Risk in Children

A recent study states that steroid injections given to pregnant women before premature birth can raise the risk of behavioral and emotional problems in children.

Doctors give a dose of natural hormone, glucocorticoids, to the women who are expected to give birth prematurely. This dose helps in developing the lungs of the premature baby. But over-dosage can lead to long term side-effects on brain development.

For the study, researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oulu in Finland studied 37 children. These children were given synthetic glucocorticoids before birth and they were compared to 185 children who were born at the same time. But these 185 children were not given glucocorticoid treatment.

The researchers also examined a group of 6,079 children, matched on pregnancy and infant characteristics.

According to the study observations, the researchers found that the children given synthetic glucocorticoids treatment scored less on general mental health at ages 8 and 16. Also they were likely to show ADHD symptoms.

"There are a lot of studies that have found links between stress in pregnancy and effects on children's mental health, especially ADHD, and this might be related to cortisol," said Alina Rodriguez, Ph.D., senior author of the study and a Visiting Professor at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London.

"Synthetic glucocorticoids mimic the biological reaction when the mother is stressed, so we wanted to see if babies who were exposed to this treatment are affected similarly in terms of mental health outcomes."

Rodriguez also noted that the mental health of the children could be affected for long period. "Although this is the largest study so far to look at these risks, the number of children in our group who were exposed to glucocorticoids was still relatively small," she said. "More studies will be needed to confirm the findings."

Although, she assured the parents saying, "in light of all available evidence to date, the benefits of steroid treatment on immediate infant health and survival are well-established and outweigh any possible risk of long-term behavioral or emotional difficulties."

"Parents who are concerned that their child may be affected by behavioral or emotional difficulties should in the first instance contact their GP for advice," she said.