How Can Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Be Prevented?

You can do certain things to help ensure that your baby isn't born before his or her lungs have developed completely.

They include:

• Seeing your doctor regularly during your pregnancy
• Eating right
• Avoiding tobacco smoke, alcohol, and illegal drugs
• Controlling any ongoing medical conditions you have
• Preventing infection

Your doctor may also recommend that you take progesterone if you had a prior preterm birth. This is a hormone that may help delay delivery.

Your doctor may give you injections of a corticosteroid medicine if it looks as though you may give birth too early. This medicine can speed up surfactant production and development of the lungs, brain, and kidneys in the fetus. Usually, within about 24 hours after you start taking the medicine, the fetus' lungs will work better. They also will respond better to surfactant treatment so that respiratory distress syndrome will not develop after delivery, or it will be relatively mild.