Here is some information I found helpful to clarify what the steroid drugs do if administered at the right time in a pregnancy that is at risk for premature delivery. This information came from the March of Dimes website:
Steroids (such as betamethasone and dexamethasone) speed the growth of the baby's lungs and organs. These drugs reduce infant deaths by about 30 percent. They also reduce the two most serious complications of premature birth, respiratory distress syndrome (by about 50 percent) and bleeding in the brain (by about 70 percent).
And here is some information on the two drugs I am taking during this pregnancy to reduce PTL symptoms. The first one, nifedipine, is what I will start taking next week at 29 weeks after going off of the motrin (which is a NSAID [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug] like indomethacin).
Calcium channel blockers
(nifedipine)
Possible side effects for the mother: Redness of the skin, headache, dizziness, nausea, low blood pressure
Possible side effects for the baby: None noted as yet
Prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors
(indomethacin, ketorolac, sulindac)
Possible side effects for the mother: Nausea, heartburn
Possible side effects for the baby: Tightening of the blood vessel through which the baby's blood flows from one major blood vessel to another (ductus arteriosus), high blood pressure in the lungs, decrease in kidney function, bleeding within the brain or heart, jaundice (yellowish color of the skin and eyes), decreased blood flow to the bowel resulting in infection (necrotizing enterocolitis)
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