Fetal Cortisol and the Initiation of Labour in the Human
The role of the fetal adrenal activity in the initiation of parturition in the human has been investigated. Women were studied in the last trimester of pregnancy during treatment with betamethasone for prevention of the idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome. Although betamethasone caused a considerable drop in the cortisol concentrations of fetal plasma and amniotic fluid, the time to spontaneo