A simple, effective and low-cost method of preventing lung disease - and therefore death - in newborn children is not being practiced widely enough in South-East Asian hospitals, according to a major international study involving the University of Adelaide, Australia.
The study - published in the international online journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth - highlights an important gap in South-East Asian hospitals in the practice of using antenatal corticosteroids prior to preterm birth.
"For infants born premature, there is a high risk of neonatal lung disease and associated complications," says one of the Chief Investigators of the study, Professor Caroline Crowther, Director of the Australian Research Centre for Health of Women and Babies at the University of Adelaide.
"Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), a consequence of immature lung development, is the primary cause of early neonatal death and contributes to significant immediate and long-term disease in survivors.
"Antenatal corticosteroid treatment for women at risk of very preterm birth before 34 weeks gestation is one of the most effective treatments for the prevention of RDS, reducing child death and disease. This is of importance for developing countries where resources are scarce and it is often difficult to provide expensive treatments such as neonatal care," she says.
The findings have arisen from a major international research effort called SEA-ORCHID (South-East Asia Optimizing Reproductive and Child Health In Developing countries).