Pregnancy diabetes guidance "flawed"

Friday June 12th, 2015

New UK guidance for identifying pregnant women developing diabetes are flawed and will lead to thousands of women wrongly being given the all clear, researchers claimed today.

As many as 4,000 cases of gestational diabetes a year could be missed because the UK guidance is different from global guidelines, Cambridge University researchers say.

Gestational diabetes is a kind of temporary diabetes that women can develop during pregnancy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says women can be tested for the problem using two blood tests.

In contrast World Health Organisation procedures require three blood tests.

The researchers say the UK guidelines are intended to help cut costs - and have never been tested in practice.

The latest research involved more than 25,000 women who gave birth at the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge over a five year period earlier this century.

The study showed that women who were borderline on blood sugar tests were at high risk of having babies excessively large at birth - a sign of diabetes. On average these babies were 350g heavier than others.

The mothers were also twice as likely as others to have emergency Caesarean sections, they report in the journal Diabetologia.

The researchers say these women would not be identified using the NICE test.

Researcher Dr Claire Meek said: "There is a fundamental difference between the international criteria and the new NICE 2015 criteria: the international criteria are based on minimising the risk of harm to the mother and baby, whereas the NICE criteria have been based upon reducing costs to the NHS.

"While cost effectiveness is important in any health care system, we must not forget the psychological and emotional distress that complications can cause."

Diabetologia June 2015

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Diabetes | UK News | Women's Health & Gynaecology | World Health

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