Obesity, diabetes in pregnant women affects babies

Researchers report that mother to be who are obese and have associated diabetes can have impact on the growth of their unborn babies.

New York, Aug 28 : Researchers report that mother to be who are obese and have associated diabetes can have impact on the growth of their unborn babies.

Researchers examined the possible link between obesity, diabetes and three adverse pregnancy outcomes - primary caesarean delivery, pre-term birth and low birth-weight (LBW)- by racial, or ethnic group.

Terry J. Rosenberg of Medical Health and Research Association (MHRA), New York, and fellow researchers collected data from the 1999, 2000 and 2001 New York City birth files for 329,988 singleton births that included information on the mother's pre-pregnancy weight and weight gained during pregnancy.

"Our goal was to understand better how these associations impact birth outcomes," a researcher said.

They found that chronic and gestational diabetes were significant risks for a primary caesarean and pre-term birth in all women, reports the online edition of American Journal of Public Health.

Diabetes as a risk for low weight of babies also varies.

Chronic diabetes increased the risk for low birth weight among Asians, Hispanics, and Whites. But it was not a significant predictor of low birth weight among Blacks.

"In this population-based study, obesity and diabetes were independently associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, highlighting the need for women to undergo lifestyle changes to help them control their weight during the childbearing years and beyond," researchers said.

(Source- IANS)

Further information on Medindia on Diabetes, Obesity and Pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy causes reduced birth weight:

A new study has shown that smoking during pregnancy is associated with reduced birth weight and stopping smoking can reverse this. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with several problems in the newborn.

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https://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?t=gn&x=3978

Obesity and Physical inactivity is associated with Diabetes and Diabetes:

Related Cardiovascular Co morbidities - According to a study by the researchers at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center both physical inactivity and obesity was found to be strongly and independently associated with diabetes and diabetes-related co morbidities.

The association between obesity and physical inactivity with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular co morbidities has already been established.

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https://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?t=gn&x=3977

Diabetes in Pregnancy:

A form of Diabetes type 2 called gestational diabetes, develops during 2 percent to 5 percent of pregnancies. In gestational diabetes, your body doesn't effectively use the insulin you produce. The cause may be metabolic changes that occur due to the effects of hormones in pregnancy. Gestational diabetes usually disappears after pregnancy, but more than half of women who experience it eventually develop a permanent type 2 diabetes.

"Diabetes is a wonderful affection, not very frequent among men, being a melting down of the flesh and limbs into urine…. The patients never stop making water, but the flow is incessant, as if from the opening of acqueducts. The nature of the disease, then, is chronic, and it takes a long period to form; but the patient is short-lived, if the constitution of the disease be completely established; for the melting is rapid, the death speedy."-Aretaeus the Cappadocian,[81-138]

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https://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/diabetes_causes.htm