Pregnancy Problems Tied to Bigger Babies

Obesity during pregnancy and gestational diabetes may be tied to overly large babies at six months' pregnancy, a new study found.

This finding, according to the authors of this study, may suggest that measures to screen for diabetes during pregnancy may come too late to prevent the problem.

Maternal obesity and gestational diabetes have been tied in past research to health problems like obesity for children later on, as well as overgrowth in the womb.

This study looked at 4,069 women. The study authors found that fetuses of women who were obese during pregnancy or who developed gestational diabetes were more likely to be too large by 28 weeks.

Twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy happens to be a common time when pregnant women in the US are given a full test for gestational diabetes, these researchers noted. This could mean that, by the time some pregnant women are screened for gestational diabetes, their babies could already be overly large.

These researchers called for earlier screening for gestational diabetes.

This study was published in the journal Diabetes Care.

The National Institute for Health Research, Cambridge Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, and Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity funded this research. Researchers cited several potential conflicts of interest, including ties to medical device manufacturers.