Gestational diabetes mellitus in teenage pregnancy: a case-control study

In a retrospective study, teenage Asian pregnancies with gestational diabetes managed over a 4-year period were compared with a group of age and parity matched controls (2 for each study case) to determine the incidence of gestational diabetes and its impact on the pregnancy outcome. The incidence of gestational diabetes in teenage pregnancy was 5.4% (33/611), and accounted for 1.4% of all the cases of gestational diabetes. There was no difference in the maternal anthropometric parameters or antenatal complications, but the study group had a higher incidence of postpartum haemorrhage (p = 0.010), greater amount of estimated blood loss at delivery (p = 0.016), a trend towards a higher incidence of large-for-gestational age infants, a higher incidence of admission to the neonatal unit (p = 0.024), mostly due to meconium-stained liquor for observation (p = 0.014), and a lower first minute Apgar score (p = 0.012). Our findings support the recommendation that in ethnic groups with a high prevalence of diabetes, universal as opposed to age-limited screening for gestational diabetes should be undertaken.