Antenatal dexamethasone effect on Doppler blood flow velocity in women at risk for preterm birth: prospective case series.

Background: Maternal administration of corticosteroids is essential to improve fetal lung surfactant production and hasten the fetal lung maturity in women at risk for preterm birth.

Objectives: The current study aims to evaluate the effects of dexamethasone on fetal and uteroplacental circulation in pregnancies at risk for preterm birth after 24 hours of its administration.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary University Hospital and included 52 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies.

The effect of calcium supplementation during pregnancy on fetal and infant growth: a nested randomized controlled trial within WHO calcium supplementation trial.

Objective: To evaluate whether prenatal calcium supplementation affects fetal and infant growth during the first year of life.

Methods: Ninety-one pregnant women and 159 mothers and their infants enrolled beginning before 20 weeks gestation, and women received daily supplements containing either 1.5 g calcium or placebo.