How is the lung development of the baby in the womb ensured?
There may be a possibility that babies are born earlier than normal due to many reasons. Normally, the pregnancy period is considered to be 40 weeks. However, babies who are forced to come into the world early due to some factors may also bring some health problems.
In particular, for the baby's lung development to be fully completed, the baby must remain in the womb for 40 weeks and have achieved lung development to the end. If it is determined that lung development is not fully achieved in some babies due to the progress of the pregnancy, then the baby's lung development can be completed more quickly with drug treatment after the 34th week of pregnancy.
In order to perform this procedure, fluid must be taken from the mother starting from approximately the 34th week of pregnancy. If the baby's lung development is found to be inadequate after the fluid is examined, then some mothers are given steroids as recommended by their doctors to accelerate lung development. In some mothers, amniocentesis is performed. It has been determined that lung development in babies of expectant mothers given steroids is faster.
In order for this procedure to be applied to expectant mothers who are at risk of premature birth, a number of necessary tests are performed. Only a specialist doctor can make the diagnosis by looking at the results of the tests. As we have just mentioned, the development of the lungs in the womb of the baby can be carried out from the 34th week onwards.
How is the lung development of babies treated? When is the treatment performed?
If the baby has not achieved complete lung development as a result of the test performed during the 34th week, a suitable specialist doctor should be consulted and the necessary treatment steps should be initiated.
Babies who have not yet fully developed their lungs are generally born via Caesarean section. In these cases, it is necessary to wait until the 39th week of pregnancy to deliver the baby.
The amniocentesis treatment methods required for the development of the lungs are applied to ensure that the baby's lungs develop until the 39th week, and then the baby's birth is initiated in the 38th and 39th weeks. It has also been determined that the lungs of babies born earlier than this period do not fully develop.
How should atenatal corticosteroids be used in case of premature birth?
It is used to express the situation when there is a premature birth situation or when the threat of premature birth is thought to occur between the 20th and 37th weeks of pregnancy. During these weeks of pregnancy, some organs and functions of the baby have not fully developed. For this reason, in case of any possibility of giving birth, some precautions should be taken. If precautions are not taken in time, the baby may face some dangers such as respiratory distress, need for intensive care, and infection when born. In order to prevent respiratory distress after birth in premature babies, antenatal corticosteroid (commonly known as injection to develop the baby's lungs) should be applied.
What are corticosteroid medications?
These drugs are basically examined in 2 groups. These are: Betamethasone and Dexamethasone. The most preferred type today is Betamathasone. These drugs allow the baby developing in the womb of the expectant mother to complete its lung development even faster. In this way, after any premature birth risk, the baby is prevented from encountering respiratory problems. In this way, it aims to minimize the possibility of different risks such as necrotizing enterocolitis, periventricular leukomalacia, intraventricular hemorrhage.
The reason why Betamethasone is preferred more frequently is that Dexamethasone is known to have negative effects on various neurological and behavioral functions of the baby.
How should corticosteroid medications be used?
These drugs are not applied directly to the baby. They are applied to the mother. The drug applied to the mother is transferred to the baby through the placenta and provides its effect.
The most commonly used form of betamethasone today is used by the intramuscular method in expectant mothers who are at risk of premature birth between the 24th and 34th weeks of pregnancy, with a total of 24 mg, 12 mg twice a day at 24-hour intervals.
In this method, an injection is made into the muscle of the hip. In case of twin or multiple pregnancy, the same dose is applied to the expectant mother.
What are the advantages of corticosteroid drug therapy?
After birth, the probability of the baby having respiratory problems decreases significantly. The oxygen requirement of the newborn baby and the necessity of respiratory support decrease. Cortosteroid drugs increase surfactant, which is a very important substance for lung function. In this way, it increases lung capacity and increases compliance. It decreases the risk of bleeding into the ventricular spaces in the brain. It decreases the risk of deterioration of blood flow in the intestines. It reduces the deaths of newborn babies.
How should birth be done?
In cases where the baby's lungs are not sufficiently developed, not all premature births that may occur need to be delivered by cesarean section. The important point here is to apply the safest birth method chosen by the doctor, taking into account the health of the baby and the mother.
In some cases, premature births of expectant mothers whose lung development is not fully completed can also be achieved with a normal birth method. The situation where expectant mothers want a cesarean section because it is easier and painless is actually more dangerous in terms of the risk it poses. It should be kept in mind that the first method of birth to be chosen is normal birth.
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