USE OF CORTICOSTEROIDS BY AUSTRALIAN OBSTETRICIANS - A SURVEY OF CLINICAL-PRACTICE

All Fellows, Members and trainees of the Royal Australian College of O bstetricians and Gynaecologists resident in Australia (n = 1,281) rece ived a questionnaire relating to their practice of prescribing antenat al corticosteroids. 833 (65%) responded. The key findings were that 97 % of Australian obstetricians prescribe antenatal corticosteroids in t he classical setting of uncomplicated early preterm labour and 85% pre scribe repeated courses in those cases in which the risk of preterm bi rth persists or recurs; 50% of obstetricians prescribe this agent week ly in cases with persisting risk of preterm birth, Some of the prescri bing practices were found to be related to the number of years since o btaining specialist qualification. In view of the widespread clinical use of repeated doses of corticosteroids revealed in this present surv ey, it is clear that further research is warranted to determine the po ssible benefits and hazards of repeated exposures of the developing fe tus to this therapy.