Pre term labor Flashcards
1
Q
Why are infants of diabetic mothers at even higher risk of having respiratory distress syndrome?
A
High maternal bloodd glucose results in elevated fetal insulin levels, which causes cellular hypertrophy at the expense of cellular maturation. As a result, the pneumocytes are not mature enough to produce surfactant, leading to RDS. The risk does not become equal to that of non-DM mothers until about 38-39 weeks of gestation. Antenatal betamethasone can help to promote fetal lung maturity ,but this must be don cautiously i diabetic mothers because it can worsen blood glucose control.
