الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Worldwide, prematurity accounts for 10% of neonatal mortality, or around 500,000 deaths per year. In the U.S. where many infections and other causes of neonatal death have been markedly reduced, prematurity is the leading cause of neonatal mortality at 25%.
Maternal administration of synthetic corticosteroids for accelerating the maturity of the fetal lung, reduces neonatal mortality, respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.
However, previous studies have shown that steroids have an effect on fetal behavior and fetal heart rate variability. In fact, conflicting results concerning the effects of betamethasone and dexamethasone on fetal heart pattern have been reported and unwarranted iatrogenic delivery has been reported in this setting.
So, the aim of this study was to improve fetal outcome of pregnant women at high risk for preterm labour. To assess the effect of maternal dexamethasone administration on antepartum fetal wellbeing in high risk cases of preterm labour, a pre-post interventional study had been done which enrolled 48 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies at risk for preterm labour with gestational age from 28 to 34 weeks presented to Obstetrics and Gynecology emergency unit and / Obstetrics and Gynecology outpatient clinic of Suez Canal University Hospitals.