Glucocorticoids can be given during pregnancy to develop lungs of babies at risk of preterm birth but the long-term effects could be detrimental to the child. A new study shows that term-born children from mothers treated with glucocorticoids during pregnancy had increased cortisol stress responses at 6–11 years of age, which were more pronounced in girls than boys.
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Challis, J. Stress responses in children after maternal glucocorticoids. Nat Rev Endocrinol 8, 629–630 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.183
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.183
