Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a common pulmonary disorder in premature infants due to immature lungs and pulmonary surfactant deficiency. Hyaline membrane disease is the old term and it is based on the pathoanatomic aspect of the disease. Today is considered that term „newborn pulmonary hyposufactosis“ is more suitable, because it contains an etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. It is one of the main causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality, beside well-researched prevention and treatment possibilites. In Croatia and other developed countries is noticed a reduction of infant mortality caused by RDS (in 2004, 15%, in 2014, 7.5%), but there is still space for further reduction. The incidence of RDS declines with increasing gestational age. Preterm birth is the most frequent risk factor for RDS, but diabetes mellitus (DM), male sex, twin or multiple pregnancy, caesarean delivery before term of birth, and genetic predisposition are also significant risk factors. Reducing the rate of premature birth and avoiding other risk factors can greatly reduce the incidence of RDS. In cases of unavoidable premature births, European and American guidelines recommend administration of antenatal corticosteroids to pregnant women from the 24 weeks' gestation age (GA) to full 34 weeks' GA, and to all women for whom an elective caesarean section is planned prior to 386/7 weeks' GA. Croatian Society for Perinatal Medicine of the Croatian Medical Association has a similar recommendation in cases of treathening preterm delivery. Studies show that administration od ACS to pregnant women reduces risk of developing RDS in newborn for 34%. 2 doses of 12 mg betamethasone should be administered at a 24-hour interval intramuscularly or 4 doses of 6 mg dexamethasone at intervals of 12 hours intramuscularly, and the prophylaxis is effective for 24 hours after the first dose and 7 days. Due to the reduction of RDS frequency by using corticosteroid prophylaxis worldwide, I recommend to the Croatian Society for Perinatal Medicine to follow the compliance in the guiding of this preventive measure.