As well as exposure to endogenous steroids that are not subject to normal negative feedback loops, fetuses with protracted chorioamnionitis may also be exposed to increased maternal steroids (related to both an immune response to inflammation30 and placental overproduction of corticotropin‐releasing hormone [CRH]) and exogenous antenatal corticosteroids: it is conceivable that a similar mechanism is at work in this group (Figure 5). This evidence concerns the gene CRH and chorioamnionitis.