Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology
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An epidemic of obesity is affecting growing numbers of women in their childbearing years increasing their risk of obstetric complications including diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, some malformations, macrosomia and the need for obstetric intervention. There is growing evidence that maternal obesity may increase the risk of obesity and diabetes in the offspring. ⋯ Limiting gestational weight gain to 5-9 kg among pregnant obese women is likely to improve obstetric outcomes, but how to achieve this remains an active area of research. If gestational diabetes develops, there is good evidence that clinical management reduces the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
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Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol · Feb 2011
ReviewInsulin during pregnancy, labour and delivery.
Optimal glycaemic control is of the utmost importance to achieve the best possible outcome of a pregnancy complicated by diabetes. This holds for pregnancies in women with preconceptional type 1 or type 2 diabetes as well as for pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes. Glycaemic control is conventionally expressed in the HbA1c value but the HbA1c value does not completely capture the complexity of glycaemic control. ⋯ Continuous glucose monitoring can offer better insights into the glycaemic profile than self-monitoring of blood glucose levels by the patients but the place of these new monitoring techniques has yet to be established more clearly. Insulin therapy during labour means short-acting insulin adjusted to achieve glucose levels between 4 and 8 mmol l(-1) to prevent neonatal hypoglycaemia as much as possible. After delivery, glycaemic control must be relaxed to prevent hypoglycaemia, especially in women who breastfeed.