Does weight management after GDM diagnosis improve pregnancy outcomes? A multi-ethnic cohort study
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus emphasizes on the observation and treatment of maternal hyperglycemia. Adequate management post diagnosis is crucial to prevent complications such as macrosomia. Research evidence yet suggests that excessive weight gain during pregnancy can result in higher fasting glucose and associated adverse outcomes. Hence managing blood glucose levels remains an important standpoint in the management of diabetes.
Tang Wong and colleagues thereby conducted a research titled “Does weight management after gestational diabetes mellitus diagnosis improve pregnancy outcomes? A multi-ethnic cohort study” and the summary has been given below.
Objectives:
To study the effect of achieving an Institute of Medicine based weight target along with usual blood glucose management on maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Method:
It was a retrospective multi-ethnic cohort study from singleton gestational diabetes pregnancies conducted between 2016-2019.
The women selected for the study were provided diabetes education and given a diet monitored by clinical dietitian. Logistic regression analysis was employed to evaluate the link between attaining, exceeding, and procuring less than a personalized weight target provided after the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and rates for large for gestational age, small for gestational age infants, initiation of insulin therapy and neonatal outcomes.
Findings:
The research established that going beyond the weight target given by the Institute of Medicine surges the rates of infants born large for gestational age and gaining less than the target surges the rates of infants born small for gestational age. Besides, this emphasizes that maintaining weight post the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is still beneficial in the long-run.
Limitations:
The results of the current study could not be transferable because of the multi-ethnic type of the cohort. Besides, any evidence to the adherence to dietary guidelines was not available.
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