May 14, 2024

Diabetes Alert: Big Babies Could Spell Big Trouble for Mothers Years Later

A recent research study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicines (SMFM) annual conference and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & & Gynecology suggests that pregnant individuals who provide large-for-gestational age (LGA) infants– even if they dont have gestational diabetes– are at an increased danger of developing prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes 10-14 years later.
A study shows that individuals who deliver large-for-gestational age (LGA) babies, even without having gestational diabetes, are most likely to establish prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes within 10-14 years post-delivery. This danger persists even after accounting for other typical threat aspects for Type 2 diabetes.
Research studies reveal that diabetes in pregnancy– also known as gestational diabetes– puts a pregnant individual at higher threat of developing Type 2 diabetes later on in life. Gestational diabetes is also a typical cause of infants who are large-for-gestational age (LGA).
What has actually not been studied, until now, is whether someone who does not have gestational diabetes however gives birth to an LGA baby is also at danger of developing diabetes later in life.

In a new research study that was presented this year at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicines (SMFM) yearly meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™– and released in the American Journal of Obstetrics & & Gynecology– researchers will reveal findings that recommend pregnant individuals who do not have diabetes but provide a large-for-gestational age baby are at an increased threat of developing prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes 10-14 years later.
Scientists used information from the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Follow-up Study. HAPO, an observational research study, examined glucose tolerance in a big, multi-national, racially diverse friend in their third trimester of pregnancy; the Follow-up Study took a look at the association in between gestational diabetes and the long-term health outcomes of pregnant individuals and their children.
Among the 4,025 individuals who did not have gestational diabetes, 13 percent (535 people) had an LGA baby; 8 percent (314 individuals) had a small-for-gestational age (SGA) baby; and 79 percent (3,176 individuals) had an average-for-gestational age (AGA) or normally grown baby.
Data exposed that 10 to 14 years after delivering, 20 percent (791 people) were identified with prediabetes or diabetes which the frequency of prediabetes or diabetes was greater among people who had an LGA birth (24.8 percent) compared to those who had an SGA birth (15.4 percent) or even more notably, those who had an AGA birth (19.7 percent). The increased danger of diabetes and prediabetes with a LGA infant held true even after scientists adjusted for threat elements for developing Type 2 diabetes, such as age, obesity, high blood pressure, and family history of diabetes.
” So typically in clinical practice when we see huge children and the individual doesnt have gestational diabetes, we do not talk about the health repercussions for the mother later in life,” states the studys lead author Kartik K. Venkatesh, MD, PhD, a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist and assistant teacher of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. “But this research suggests there may also be health consequences for the pregnant individual even without gestational diabetes when they have a larger than normal-sized baby. Thats why its so crucial to follow large groups of individuals and their infants, regardless of whether they had gestational diabetes or not, over a long duration of time.
” The real ramification of this research study is that we require to stop believing of pregnancy care as episodic care by making these connections between pregnancy and long-lasting health outcomes in mothers and children in order to see the larger photo.”
Recommendation: “Association of large-for-gestational age birth and prediabetes/diabetes 10-14 years postpartum in the HAPO follow-up research study” by Kartik Kailas Venkatesh, William A. Grobman, Jiquiang Wu, Patrick Catalano, Mark B. Landon, Denise Sholtens, William Lowe and Sadiya S. Khan, January 2023, American Journal of Obstetrics & & Gynecology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.ajog.2022.11.097.
Fulfilling: SMFM 43rd Annual Pregnancy Meeting.

Studies reveal that diabetes in pregnancy– likewise known as gestational diabetes– puts a pregnant person at greater danger of establishing Type 2 diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is likewise a common cause of infants who are large-for-gestational age (LGA).” So frequently in medical practice when we see big infants and the person doesnt have gestational diabetes, we do not talk about the health repercussions for the mother later on in life,” states the research studys lead author Kartik K. Venkatesh, MD, PhD, a maternal-fetal medication subspecialist and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.