Babies born to women with diabetes are nearly five times more likely to be stillborn and nearly three times likelier to die in their first month of life, says a British study that's the largest to examine the effects of diabetes in pregnancy.
Advertisement
The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) study also found that babies born to diabetic mothers are nearly twice as likely to have major congenital malformations, BBC News reported.
Of 2 356 babies born to women with diabetes over a one-year period, there were 63 stillbirths and another 22 of the babies died before they were a month old.
The study also found that pregnant women with diabetes had higher-than-normal rates of Caesarean section and pre-term delivery, BBC News reported.
Most common complication
Diabetes affects about one in every 250 pregnancies and is the most common complication of pregnancy, the researchers said.
"The evidence is that type 2 diabetes is becoming more common and, contrary to what many people have believed, is just as likely to lead to a baby's death or a malformation as if the mother had type 1 diabetes," Dr Mary Macintosh, CEMACH medical director, told BBC News. – (HealthDayNews)
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?