Postpartum screening for diabetes in women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus: a re‐audit

Abstract

AbstractThe majority of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have transient hyperglycaemia during pregnancy, but up to 50% develop diabetes within five years postpartum. Early diagnosis and timely intervention reduce long‐term morbidity and mortality. Women who have had GDM should have screening for diabetes mellitus according to NICE guidelines. Our previous audits in 2015 and 2016 revealed that only 44% and 33% of women had postpartum screening, respectively. We therefore, changed to glycated haemoglobin testing at 13–24 weeks postpartum, providing a request form and telephone‐reminder calls to patients. After this intervention, we aimed to re‐audit postpartum screening for diabetes in these women.We undertook a retrospective audit looking at postpartum screening for diabetes in 147 women diagnosed with GDM who delivered during the year August 2017 to July 2018.The results showed that 106 patients (72.1%) had postpartum screening for diabetes (one‐fifth of these were done too early and two tests were done after six months postpartum). Therefore, 83 patients did their screening test at the appropriate time, of which eight results (9.6%) indicated high‐risk for diabetes (pre‐diabetes) and two results (2.4%) indicated diabetes.This audit demonstrates that while there is still room for improvement there was a markedly increased take up of postpartum screening for diabetes in women who have had GDM. This was due to a change in practice, which we hope will provide a stimulus for change in other centres and, most importantly, aid in the prevention and incidence reporting of diabetes after GDM. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons. Practical Diabetes 2019; 36(5): 162–164