Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aims: In diabetic pregnancy, neonatal hypoglycemia (NH) is usually attributed to insufficient regulation of maternal glycemic control. Recent data suggest that maternal BMI could have an influence on NH. The objective of this study was to determine whether an association exists between maternal prepregnancy BMI and occurrence of NH among infants born to women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study including all GDM pregnancies delivered between 2007 and 2011 at a tertiary care center hospital. GDM was diagnosed using the ADA criteria. Three hundred and sixty-two newborns were studied. NH was defined according to Cornblath criteria. In addition to maternal BMI (according to Asian-Indian criteria), other variables such as glycemic status at diagnosis or third-trimester glycosylated hemoglobin as potential predictors of NH were also studied. We also explored whether the association between maternal BMI and NH could be due to factors such as caesarean section or abnormal birth weight.

Results:: The rate of NH was 2.9%. In the bivariate analysis, prepregnancy BMI was higher in the NH group (27.15 vs 24.07 kg/m², P<0.02). In the logistic regression analysis, prepregnancy BMI of at least 26.7 kg/m² was independently associated with NH whether the analysis included other factors (odds ratio =2.21; 95% CI=1.29–3.45) or not (odds ratio=2.85; 95% CI=1.66–5.76).

Conclusions: Pregestational BMI should be considered among the predictors of NH in offspring of women with GDM.