Steroids Blog

Pregnant women who use topical steroids are not prone to have birth defect, preterm delivery, or stillbirth. In a randomized controlled trials and cohort studies of topical corticosteroids in pregnant women show that there is no statistically significant difference between pregnant women who use and those who do not use topical corticosteroids. To verify the effects of topical corticosteroids, researchers noted the mode of delivery, congenital abnormality, birth weight, preterm delivery, stillbirth, and low Apgar score of the babies.

From Cochrane Reviews:

Randomized controlled trials and cohort studies of topical corticosteroids in pregnant women, and case-control studies comparing maternal exposure to topical corticosteroids between cases and controls were included where outcomes were those we had pre-specified.

Two authors independently applied selection criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. A third author was available for resolving differences of opinion.

Seven studies, including 2 cohort and 5 case-control studies, of 659,675 participants were included. We did not undertake a meta-analysis due to considerable methodological heterogeneity. The available data was limited and mainly on orofacial cleft. Most studies did not find significant associations between topical corticosteroids and pregnancy outcomes including mode of delivery, congenital abnormality, preterm delivery, and stillbirth. One study found a significant association between first trimester topical corticosteroid use and orofacial cleft, and another found a significant association between very potent topical corticosteroids and low birth weight. Cohort studies with comprehensive outcome measures, assessment of effects of corticosteroid potency and dose, application methods, and reasons for giving them, and a very large sample size are needed.

Currently limited and inconclusive data are unable to detect an association between topical corticosteroids and congenital abnormality, preterm delivery, or stillbirth. Although, researchers claim that pregnant women who use large doses of potent topical corticosteroids are likely to have babies with low birth weights.