New research suggests that pregnant women who have pre-existing diabetes are significantly more likely to experience stillbirths or death of their infant after birth. This is according to a study published in the journal Diabetologia.
Investigators from Newcastle University in the UK, the South Tees NHS Trust and Public Health England say that previous research has analyzed the association between women with pre-existing diabetes and deaths of unborn fetuses and young infants.
But they point out that their study excludes diseases already existing from birth (congenital anomalies).
To reach their findings, the researchers analyzed data from the Northern Diabetes in Pregnancy Survey.
The data included pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes and all their normally formed singleton infants. Type 1 diabetes was present in 1,206 women, while 342 had type 2 diabetes.
By comparing population data from the Northern Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Survey, the investigators estimated the relative risk of stillbirth - defined as death of a fetus at or after 20 weeks' gestation - and infant death - defined as death in the first year of an infant's life.
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From their analysis, the researchers found that women who had pre-existing diabetes were 4.56 times more likely to suffer stillbirth and 1.86 times more likely to have their infants die after birth, compared with women who did not have pre-existing diabetes.
Women with glycated hemoglobin (a measure of blood sugar) above 6.6%, pre-pregnancy diabetic retinopathy and low folic acid supplementation were at higher risk of suffering fetal or infant death.
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