Blood Sugery In Pregnancies

Might blood-sugar level at the high end of the normal range pose a risk to pregnant woman and their babies? A study followed through childbirth 23,316 women who’d had their blood sugar tested when they were about 28 weeks pregnant. All participants had blood-sugar levels below the threshold for diabetes. About 26% of the women with the highest level gave birth to abnormally large babies, compared with 5% of women with the lowest levels.

Also, the higher a woman’s blood-sugar level, the more likely she was to have a child with high insulin levels and low blood-sugar levels at birth, and greater the chance that she would deliver prematurely or have a Caesarean delivery.

Who may be affected? Pregnant women. In the US, about 5% of the pregnant women develop diabetes for the first during pregnancy.

Caveats: The study did not determine at what point pregnant women with bllod-sugar levels below diabetic should receive treatment. Analysis did not include data on weight gain and the women’s diets.

You can find this study in the May 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.