COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS ON NEONATAL HEALTH OUTCOMES

Abstract

Background: Health of growing fetus and the new born babies depend on the health status of the mother. Hence during gestational period, maintenance of good maternal health is crucial to prevent any untoward neonatal outcomes. Hyperglycemia in pregnancy, also called as gestational diabetes mellitus being one of the major complications faced by pregnant females imposes significant risk of neonatal complications and mortality.

Aim: Thus this study was initiated with an aim of evaluating and comparing patterns of neonatal outcomes among the neonates born from GDM mothers and healthy mothers.

Method: This study included 300 participants. 150 were healthy pregnant female while 150 were the females with GDM. After parturition, the health of the neonates from the mothers in each group was evaluated and monitored. The neonatal anthropometric parameters like birth weight, birth length, circumference of head and chest were measured. APGAR scores and 1 minute, 5 minutes and 10 minutes were also calculated. The birth complications shown by the neonates were also noted. The comparative evaluation of obtained data was done using SPSS 20.

Results: The neonatal anthropometric parameters were significantly high in case of neonates from GDM mothers compared to the neonates from healthy mothers. Similarly, the APGAR scores at 5 minutes and 10 minutes after birth were significantly in the neonates from GDM mothers. The most common neonatal complications observed were hyperbilirubinemia (26%), polycythemia (25%), hypoglycaemia (16%), macrosomia (16%) and pre-term birth (14.7%) 

Conclusion: This study provides the evidence of risk of abnormal health outcome in the neonates from GDM mothers. This can be minimised with proper control of maternal glycemia. Hence early screening and regular monitoring of maternal glycemia is suggested.

Key words: Glycemia, neonate, APGAR, gestation