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Alicia Chang,
Associated Press, June 12, 2005
Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy give birth to healthier babies
if they are aggressively treated, concludes a large new study that helps
bolster the case for testing all pregnant women for this condition.
The study, by Australian researchers, is the first to show that treatment
can help avoid serious problems at birth.
Although complications are uncommon, they were four times lower among
babies of mothers who were aggressively treated. No babies born to the 490
women getting more aggressive care died. There were three stillbirths and
two other infant deaths among the 510 mothers who got regular care.
Results of the study will be published in the New England Journal of
Medicine on Thursday and were presented Sunday at an American Diabetes
Association meeting.
Gestational diabetes sometimes begins or is diagnosed in midpregnancy and
disappears later. Women who get it have a greater chance of having
diabetes in the future. It affects 3 percent to 7 percent of pregnant
women in the United States, a number on the rise because of the growing
obesity problem.
Women who tightly controlled their diabetes were less likely to deliver
extremely large babies, those weighing more than 8 pounds.
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