Treating mild gestational diabetes beneficial: Study

Gestational diabetes is a medical condition in which women show high blood glucose levels during pregnancy.

Findings of the study clearly indicate that even mild form of diabetes that is well-controlled and well-monitored can make a difference and improve pregnancy outcomes.

958 pregnant women examined
To determine whether treating women with mild forms of gestational diabetes could make a difference, a team led by Dr. Mark Landon conducted a study on 958 women -- all of whom were between 24 and 31 weeks pregnant and were having mild gestational diabetes.

Dr. Mark Landon is a professor and interim chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

Out of all these women, 485 were given the diabetes treatment, which included dietary counseling, blood glucose monitoring and insulin shots, if required. The remaining 473 women were given the routine prenatal care treatment. Landon observed that only 7 percent women required insulin whereas 93 percent of women were able to control their blood sugar level.

Study's findings
The findings of the study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrated that women who received the diabetes treatment were half as likely to have fat babies than their counterparts who were not given the treatment. Only 7.1 percent of the treated women delivered large babies as compared to 14.5 percent in the control group.

The results also showed that cesarean delivery rates were also reduced for women who were treated by an average of 26.9 percent compared with 33.8 percent in the control group.

Women in the treated group gained less weight, had fewer preterm births and were less likely to develop a condition of preeclampsia -- a sudden increase in blood pressure that can lead to premature delivery, noted the researchers.

The findings "demonstrate that there's a significant clinical benefit to treating even the mildest form of gestational diabetes," said Landon.

Watch out for the increased blood sugar level
Gestational diabetes begins during pregnancy, occurs in up to 14 percent of all pregnancies and usually goes away after childbirth.

When women develop gestational diabetes, it causes their fetus to receive more blood sugar than required. The extra energy is stored as fat in the mother’s body, so the babies tend to be heavier at birth.

This can also lead to health problems for both the mother and the baby, who could develop obesity and metabolic diseases later in life.

Although doctors are still uncertain whether pregnant women with mild increase in the blood sugar level require treatment or not, health experts maintain that monitoring the blood sugar level and opting a healthy diet makes for easy deliveries.