Gestational diabetes and preterm labour: is glycaemic control a contributing factor?.
OBJECTIVE
(1) to evaluate the incidence of preterm delivery in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus; (2) to determine the association between glycaemic control and preterm delivery in these patients.


METHODS
(1) The incidence of spontaneous preterm singleton deliveries was determined in 550 intensively-treated patients with gestational diabetes mellitus. A total of 14 552 consecutive patients without gestational diabetes mellitus who delivered during the same interval served as a control population; (2) Glycaemic profiles (i.e., mean blood glucose, percent of hypoglycaemic [ < 60 mg/dl] and hyperglycaemic [ > 120 mg/dl] episodes) were compared in 34 patients with gestational diabetes mellitus who delivered preterm, and 68 matched controls with gestational diabetes mellitus who delivered at term.


RESULTS
(1) The incidence of preterm delivery in gestational diabetics was similar to that found in the non-diabetic population (6.2% vs. 6.5%, respectively, P = 0.82; confidence limits: 0.65, 1.36); (2) women with gestational diabetes mellitus who delivered at term, or preterm had similar glycaemic profiles for both the entire treatment period and the week preceding delivery.


CONCLUSIONS
(1) There is no increased risk for preterm delivery in intensively-treated gestational diabetes mellitus patients; (2) In a population such as this women with gestational diabetes mellitus who deliver preterm cannot be characterised by their glycaemic profile.
Bar-Hava
I
I
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Barnhard
Y
Y
Scarpelli
S A
SA
Orvieto
R
R
Ben-Rafael
Divon
M Y
MY
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D001786:Blood Glucose