Neonatal outcomes
There was no difference in the median umbilical cord c-peptide
concentration or proportion >90th centile
between babies that were born to GDM mothers and normoglycaemic mothers.
Similarly, the rate of clinical neonatal jaundice was similar between
the groups. However, more cases of neonatal hypoglycaemia were recorded
in the GDM group, compared to babies born to normoglycaemic mothers
(1.8% Vs 0.4%; p-value 0.02). Babies born to mothers with GDM were on
average 47.0g larger than those born to normoglycaemic participants, but
this was not statistically significant. Similarly, there were no
differences in the proportion of babies born large for gestational age
(25.0% Vs 20.4%; p-value 0.15), or macrosomic, small for gestational
age, or low birthweight. Gestational age at delivery, proportion of
babies born preterm, proportion of babies admitted to the special baby
unit and their median length of stay were similar between babies that
were born to GDM mothers and normoglycaemic mothers. There was no
significant difference detected in perinatal mortality rates between GDM
and normoglycaemic pregnancies (2.11% Vs 2.8%; p-value 0.68). Neonatal
outcomes are displayed in Table 2.