Health Problems in Babies of Diabetic Mothers

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Clausen TD, Mathiesen E, Ekbom P, et al.: Poor pregnancy outcome in women with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 28:323–328, 2005.

What is the problem, and what is known about it so far?

In the past 10 years, more and more women have gotten type 2 diabetes. One reason this is happening is because more women are obese, or very overweight, and obesity is a trigger for getting diabetes. And there's another problem: More women with type 2 diabetes are getting pregnant. If blood glucose levels are not under control before a woman gets pregnant, her unborn baby is more likely to have serious health problems. But we don’t know very much about the birth and health of babies whose mothers got type 2 diabetes more recently.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

They wanted to look at the pregnancy problems and other serious health problems in babies whose mothers had type 2 diabetes between 1996 and 2001. The researchers compared mothers with type 2 diabetes, mothers with type 1 diabetes, mothers who did not have diabetes, and mothers with type 2 diabetes who had babies 10 years earlier.

Who was studied?

The researchers studied 61 pregnant women with type 2 diabetes who were sent to the Department of Obstetrics at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark between January 1996 and December 2001.

How was the study done?

The researchers studied the medical records of these 61 women. They compared how these women's pregnancies turned out with a group of women with type 1 diabetes who were pregnant between 1996 and 2000. The first group of women also were compared with women who didn't have diabetes and were pregnant at the same time. Finally, the women were compared with women with type 2 diabetes who were pregnant between 1980 and 1992.

What did the researchers find?

Babies born to women with type 2 diabetes had more health problems than babies whose mothers had type 1 diabetes or no diabetes at all. This problem seems to be getting worse: Babies of women with type 2 diabetes between 1996 and 2001 had more serious health problems than babies born to women between 1980 and 1992. In the earlier study group, none of the babies had major health problems or died before birth or during the first week of life. In the later study group, there were four babies who had major health problems and four who died before or not long after birth, or 7 percent.

What were the limitations of the study?

This study looked at just a few women, so we don't know if researchers would have come up with the same results in a larger group. Also, the mothers' weight, age, and ethnic background could have affected the number of pregnancy complications in the women with type 2 diabetes, but this study had no way of finding that out.

What are the implications of the study?

The growing number of less-than-perfect pregnancies may have something to do with the fact that more women are developing type 2 diabetes before they get pregnant. It is very important for women with diabetes to make sure their diabetes is under control before they get pregnant. It is also important for these women to talk to their doctors before they get pregnant.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Boulot P, et al.: French multicentric survey of outcome of pregnancy in women with pregestational diabetes. Diabetes Care 26:2990–2993, 2003.

Diabetes and Pregnancy (http://www.diabetes.org/gestational-diabetes/pregancy.jsp).

Luerssen M, Bernasko J, Winsch A: Lows and your pregnancy. Diabetes Forecast, 61–64, April 2005.