Each month, our preclinical representatives select a research article to share via our social media channels. Have a look at the summary of this month’s article!
In our learning, we have heard a lot about maternal and neonatal outcomes in individuals with type 1 and 2 diabetes, but have yet to explore the impact of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on pregnancy outcomes.
GDM is defined as diabetes first recognised during pregnancy and is a condition that now affects 10% of pregnancies, but can occur in up to 30% in high-risk populations. High-risk populations include older women, being overweight and ethnicity. Patients with GDM are at a higher risk of adverse outcomes like preeclampsia, macrosomia and pre-term birth. Hence, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) becomes very important to manage their blood glucose levels and minimise pregnancy complications.
In this prospective cohort study, 1302 pregnant women with GDM at a mean gestational age of 26 weeks were recruited and followed until delivery with 14 days of CGM measurement. It was observed that 5% had pre-term birth, 11% had Large-for-Gestational-Age newborns, 8.1% had fetal distress, 20% had premature rupture of membranes before labour began, and 9.1% needed NICU admission. The individuals with at least one of these adverse outcomes had higher levels of CGM-derived AUC, daily, daytime and nighttime mean blood glucose.
Read on to find out more about the relationship between GDM and the aforementioned adverse outcomes:
