Despite significant progress in the treatment of preterm neonates, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) continues to be a major cause of neonatal morbidity. Affected infants suffered from long-term pulmonary and nonpulmonary sequel. The pulmonary sequels include reactive airway disease and asthma during childhood and adolescence. Nonpulmonary sequels include poor coordination and muscle tone, difficulty in walking, vision and hearing problems, delayed cognitive development, and poor academic achievement. As inflammation seems to be a primary mediator of injury in pathogenesis of BPD, role of steroids as antiinflammatory agent has been extensively studied and proven to be efficacious in management. However, evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation regarding other glucocorticoid doses and preparations. Numerous studies have been performed to investigate the effects of steroid. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these studies in order to elucidate the beneficial and harmful effects of steroid on the prevention and treatment of BPD.

Prenatal and Birth History • 22-year-old G2P1 African American mother • Estimated gestational age: 38 weeks • Spontaneous vaginal delivery in hospital • Nonconsanguineous parents • Routine antenatal screen negative • Apgar scores 9 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes.

Term infants born with MSAF and who experienced respiratory distress had significantly lower levels of ACTH and cortisol at birth compared with well term infants born with MSAF or clear amniotic fluid. This study suggests that inadequate response of ACTH and cortisol hormones may play a role in the development of respiratory distress in term infants with MSAF.

Objectives To compare clinical characteristics and outcomes of infants born to COVID-19 to non COVID-19 mothers at delivery in a community hospital in Queens, New York. Methods Case-control study conducted March 15 to June 15, 2020. Cases were infants born to mothers with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection at delivery. The infant of non COVID-19 mother born before and after each case were selected as controls. Results Of 695 deliveries, 62 (8.9%) infants were born to COVID-19 mothers; 124 controls were selected. Among cases, 18.3% were preterm compared to 8.1% in controls (p=0.04). In preterm cases, birth weight was not significantly different between groups. However, there was a significantly higher proportion of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions, need for respiratory support, suspected sepsis, hyperbilirubinemia, feeding intolerance and longer length of stay (LOS) in preterm cases. Among term cases, birth weight and adverse outcomes were not significantly different between cases and controls except for more feeding intolerance in cases. All infants born to COVID-19 mothers were COVID-19 negative at 24 and 48 h of life. No infants expired during birth hospitalization. Conclusions Significantly, more infants of COVID-19 mothers were premature compared to controls. Preterm cases were more likely to have adverse outcomes despite having similar birth weight and gestational age. These differences were not seen among full term infants. Health care providers should anticipate the need for NICU care when a COVID-19 mother presents in labor.