Sexual steroid levels and their clinical significance in the early neonatal age

Serum concentrations of progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) in the umbilical cord blood were measured in healthy full term newborn infants and were related to the serum levels of indirect bilirubin at 72 hr postpartum in the same group of neonates. In those having higher concentration of bilirubin than 204 mumol/l at 72 hr after birth, cord P and E2 levels were significantly higher than in the rest of the group. Furthermore, strong correlation was found between serum levels of progesterone at 24 hr after birth and that of bilirubin at 72 hr postpartum in the same subjects. According to the authors' conclusion serum progesterone levels 24 hours after birth prognosticate the occurrence of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia.