Maternal and fetal outcome in gestational diabetic women

Background and objective: Gestational diabetes mellitus affects 7% of all pregnancies. It is defined as glucose intolerance that begins or is first diagnosed during pregnancy. It is crucial to detect women with gestational diabetes mellitus because the condition can be associated with several maternal and fetal complications. This study aimed to determine the maternal and fetal outcome of gestational diabetes mellitus in maternity teaching hospital in Sulaimani city, Kurdistan, Iraq. Methods: This prospective observational study had involved 100 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Data were collected from 1st January 2014 to 1st July 2014. Results: Most women were in the age group 30-39 years (57%) and were multigravida (75%). Regarding women’s BMI, 69% of women had a BMI of >30 kg/m2.  Most of the women delivered by cesarean section (68%). Also, 63% delivered term baby ≥ 37weeks. Of the women who used insulin, 30.6% delivered babies >4 kg. Complications occurred in 10%, 12.9%, and 11.1% of women who treated by diet, insulin, and the group used metformin then insulin, respectively. Conclusion: The results conclude that pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus have increased the risk of hypertension in pregnancy, preterm delivery, and cesarean section. Increasing age, family history of diabetes, increasing parity, and increase in BMI are a risk factor for developing gestational diabetes mellitus. Also, most of the maternal complications occurred in those women who were on metformin. The occurrence of macrosomia was low in the treated cases of gestational diabetes mellitus.