Gestational diabetes: beware of the risks for mother and child

the Gestational Diabetes is likely to affect a growing number of women due to the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as the increasing age of childbearing, risk factors for developing this pathology during pregnancy. pregnancy.

However, women who developed diabetes during pregnancy have an increased risk of perinatal complications compared to those without diabetes, according to the results of a study. study published in the medical journal Diabetologia. Complications that also affect the child.

In order to accurately assess the effects of diabetes during pregnancy, the National Health Insurance Fund for salaried workers (Cnamts) and teams from the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris – neonatal services at the Armand Trousseau hospital and diabetology and obstetrics at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, carried out a study and analyzed 796,000 deliveries in France in 2012.

High risks for mother and child

The results of the study reveal that 7% of women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have an increased risk of perinatal complications compared to those without diabetes. Indeed, these mothers give birth by caesarean section in nearly 28% of cases, for 20% of women without diabetes.

The researchers also observed that premature deliveries occur in 8% of women with gestational diabetes against 6% for others. 2% of women with gestational diabetes experience preeclampsia (abnormal increase in blood pressure which can cause death) for 1% of women without diabetes.

For the baby, the risk of heart defects at birth is 1.2 times higher than that noted in a mother without diabetes.

“The frequency of complications increases further when the diabetes is severe, requiring the use of insulin: in this case, a third of deliveries take place by cesarean and 9% occurs prematurely. Finally, newborns have a risk multiplied by 2 of having a particularly high birth weight ”, state the authors of the study.

Early detection to reduce risk

The researchers recall in their study the importance of early detection for women who present risk factors such as overweight, obesity, an age over 35 years, a family history of diabetes, an obstetric history of gestational diabetes. It will make it possible to limit, with a rigorous follow-up of the dietetic treatment and / or insulin therapy, the complications for the mother and the child.

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