Gestational diabetes mellitus outcome in 394 patients

To determine whether women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring have pregnancy outcomes and complications of pregnancy that are different from those in the general obstetric population.

Through medical record coding, we identified women with GDM and a singleton pregnancy with cephalic presentation who delivered at St. Paul's Hospital between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2001. In total, 394 births were analyzed and their outcomes compared with those of a control group of 100 non-diabetic women with the same gestational age (38 weeks) at delivery.

Women with gestational diabetes were of lesser parity (P 0.05), appreciably older (P 0.05), and less likely to be Caucasian (P 0.005) than the general obstetric population. Women with GDM also had a higher risk of Caesarean section (P 0.05), gestational hypertension (P 0.05), and large for gestational age (LGA) deliveries (P 0.005). Of women with GDM, those treated with insulin had a higher incidence of LGA deliveries than those on diet therapy alone. The incidence of respiratory distress syndrome and of need for phototherapy was similar in babies whose mothers had GDM and in those whose mothers did not.

Although the rate of complications remains low, GDM creates a predisposition to increased maternal and neonatal complications.