Glucocorticoid therapy for the induction of pulmonary maturity in severely hypertensive gravid women.

Twenty hypertensive gravid women who had their pregnancies terminated for maternal indications because of the severity of pre-eclampsia or chronic hypertension were studied. They were treated at 27 to 33 weeks of gestation with 48 hours of betamethasone therapy prior to delivery. There was one antepartum fetal death, and it is believed that this death was preventable. There was an incidence of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) of 23% with two neonatal deaths secondary to RDS, for a treated neonatal survival of 85.7%. All losses were from mothers with pre-eclampsia. Pregnancy-related hypertension is not thought to be an absolute contraindication to glucocorticoid therapy for the induction of pulmonary maturity.