Can We Accurately Time the Administration of Antenatal Corticosteroids for Preterm Labor?

Table 1

Comparison of baseline maternal characteristics for mothers in the optimal timing and suboptimal timing groups.

Characteristic	Optimal timing	Suboptimal timing	P value
Age (y), mean ± SD		32.8 ± 5.8	0.63
Gravidity, median (IQR)	2 (2)	2 (2)	0.5
Parity, median (IQR)	0 (1)	0 (1)	0.63
Singleton	87 (77%)	79 (78%)	0.94
Multifetal gestation	26 (23%)	23 (23%)
BMI (kg/m^2)	27.8 (4.4)	28.3 (5.1)	0.42
Ethnicity
White	50 (50%)	54 (53%)	0.74
Black	19 (17%)	21 (21%)
Hispanic	23 (20%)	16 (16%)
Asian/other	14 (12%)	11 (11%)
ART	21 (19%)	24 (24%)	0.37
Prior to preterm birth	19 (17%)	12 (12%)	0.29
Smoker	2 (2%)	1 (1%)	1.0
GA at ACS (wks), median (IQR)	31.6 (5.0)	31.6 (3.7)	0.62
GA at delivery (wks), median (IQR)	32.0 (4.9)	36.0 (4.6)	<0.001
Latency (d), median (IQR)	1 (2)	35 (32)	<0.001
Diabetes
None	105 (93%)	90 (88%)	0.24
Pregestational	1 (1%)	0 (0%)
Gestational diabetes-A1	3 (3%)	11 (11%)
Gestational diabetes-A2	4 (4%)	1 (1%)
Chronic hypertension	1 (1%)	2 (2%)	0.61

BMI, body mass index; ART, assisted reproductive technology; ACS, antenatal corticosteroids; GA, gestational age.