Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain are increasing globally. However, the association between gestational weight gain consistent with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines and neonatal birth weight among women with gestationnel diabetes (GDM) remain unclear.

Objective: The aim of our study was to assess gestational weight gain among tunisian women with GDM and his effect on neonatal birth weight.

Methods: A prospective and longitudinal study including 220 women with GDM followed at the gestational diabetes research unit of department C at the National Institute of nutrition of Tunis. The study was carried out from july 2019 to december 2020 and during the entire period of pregnancy. Height and starting weight and weight at the end of pregnancy were measured. Statistics were performed using SPSS 20.

Results: The mean pre-gestational BMI was 28.8±5.2 kg/m². The mean term of discovery of GDM was (24 gestational week +2day) ±(7 gestational week +2day). The average weight gain in late pregnancy was 12.2±4.6 kg. More than half of the patients (56.1%) had inadequate weight gain and 44.5% had excessive weight gain in late pregnancy. The mean birth weight was 3368.2±551.2 g [1022g -5000 g]. The main neonatal outcomes were macrosomia (13.5%) and transient respiratory distress (11.4%). Patients with macrosm newborns tended to have higher pre-gestational BMI but with no significant difference between the two groups (29.3±4.8 kg vs 28.5±5.2 kg; P=0.4). Furthermore, there was no correlation between the weight gain in late pregnancy and the birth weight (P=0.679). Similarly, we did not observe an association between the incidence of macrosomia and the weight gain in late pregnancy (P=0.559).

Conclusion: The half of women (65,1%) had inadequate weight gain in late pregnancy. These data point out the interest to follow the recommendations of weight gain during pregnancy in patients with GDM to prevent pregnacy outcomes including macrosomia.