Morbidities among babies of diabetic mothers with variable maternal glycemic control

Abstract

Background and objectives:Diabetes in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of complications in both the mother and the fetus. Early diagnosis by screening of pregnant women between 24 to 28 weeks of gestation with proper control of diabetes is essential to reduce these adverse neonatal outcomes. This study aims to determine mor- bidities in infants of diabetic mothers with variable maternal glycemic state in comparison to infants of non-diabetic mothers. Methods:A cross-sectional study (with a comparison group) was carried out at Maternity Teaching Hospital in Erbil City, Kurdistan region, Iraq over 6 months period. Fifty neonates of diabetic mothers were compared with 50 neonates of non-diabetic mothers, matched for gestational age and birth weight. Screening and certain investigations, such as blood glucose, serum calcium, total serum bilirubin, Echocardiography were done for both groups. Results: Majority of the mothers (72%) had gestational diabetes. Among various complications found in infants of diabetic mothers, hypoglycemia was the most common one (56%) which was significantly higher than that among infants of non-diabetic mothers (26%). Congenital heart disease was also significantly higher in infants of diabetic mothers (36%) compared to infants of non-diabetic mothers (4%). Conclusions: Morbidities like hypoglycemia,,polycythemia, and congenital anomalies are more common among babies of diabetic mothers when compared to those of non-dia- betic mothers, and they are the most common complications observed.