Revised Guidelines for Gestational Diabetes Could Triple Cases

Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman's blood sugar level becomes too high while pregnant. Currently, between 2 and 10 percent of pregnant women have gestational diabetes. But a new study published in Diabetes Care suggests that guidelines to diagnose gestational diabetes should be broadened, which would result in two to three times as many women diagnosed with the condition.

Identifying At-Risk Pregnancies

Researchers looked at data on more than 23,000 women in nine countries. They wanted to see if women were likely to have problems during pregnancy if they had blood sugar levels that were high, yet lower than currently needed to receive a diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

They found that the following blood sugar levels, which are currently within the normal range, actually posed a serious threat to the moms and their babies:

• Fasting blood sugar levels of 92 or higher
• One-hour level of 180 or higher on a glucose tolerance test
• Two-hour level of 153 or higher on a glucose tolerance test
  

Women with any of these levels had higher risk for overweight babies, early deliveries, cesarean sections, and dangerously high blood pressure. Risk for these problems was up to twice as high as for those with lower blood sugar levels.

Experts think that these new guidelines will become the basis for diagnosing gestational diabetes. However, the 2010 clinical practice recommendations from the American Diabetes Association have not been updated with these new guidelines.