Birth Defect Three To Four Times More Likely For Infants Born To Diabetic Women, Study Says

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 01 Aug 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Pregnant women with diabetes are three to four times more likely to give birth to an infant with a birth defect than other pregnant women, according to a CDC study scheduled to be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports.

According to the AP/Mercury News, the study -- which used hospital data from 1997 to 2003 in 10 states -- provides the most detailed information on the kinds of conditions experienced by infants of diabetic women. The CDC researchers who conducted the study listed nearly 40 kinds of birth defects found to be significantly more likely infants born to diabetic women than other infants.

The study compared 13,000 births that involved a major defect and compared them with 5,000 randomly selected births that did not involve a major defect. Researchers asked pregnant women if they had been diagnosed with diabetes before or during their pregnancies.

Janis Biermann -- senior vice president for education and health promotion at the March of Dimes -- said the list of defects was longer than previously understood, adding, "It adds more information about the specific types of birth defects associated with pre-gestational diabetes and gestational diabetes" (Stobbe, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 7/30).

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