[Amniotic fluid testing - importance to prophylaxis against idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome (author's...

For glucocorticoid prophylaxis against idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome, the authors feel that a decisive role is played by the waiting period following administration, depending on the results of amniotic fluid testing. They decided to wait 48 hours in cases of immature lung and 24 hours in cases of mature lung, both holding patterns under the protection of antibiotics. The incidence of idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome among their premature births over two years as well as mortality due to that cause were found to be lower than those in a control group. Antibiotic-protected holding before delivery did not aggravate the curves of maternal nor foetal infections.